One Piece In The Wind
by caitlinlep
Summary: For 14 years Kuki was at the World Government's call, and when they weren't using her power, they kept her locked-up. With no family or friends she felt hopeless and gave up on life, until a certain swordsman shows up while choas surronded them, but will the 'saving' give her new joys or will it throw Kuki into a life worse then she already had? Deviantart: caitlinlep
1. Chapter 1

*a little BASED on episode 274* The green haired, swordsman ran. Where had his companions gone? Well wherever they were was past him. "Always getting lost…" he mumbled under his breath. "Here!" he said in his mind as he opened a heavy door with metal bars over its mini window. He ran, hearing only the tapping of his feet on the tile. Prison cells fell on both sides of him with little to none light from the old, metallic, swaying lanterns. He then took a sharp left and started running again, seeing a door, like the one he just went threw, and sped for it, but something caught his eye. Hiding in the far corner of an old, rusty jail cell was a small, huddled figure.

He stopped, and peered into the dusty cage. The figure was tiny, not a child, but defiantly feminine. He leaned in closer and the hilts of his swords hit the metal bars, making the figure's head fly up. Revealing huge, blue, sad eyes, scared by the sudden intrusion of noise Zoro had created. He was stunned, frozen in place as the eyes of this…stranger hit his heart. Out of reaction he kicked the iron door open, frightening the female figure even more as she let out a little shriek. "I'm here to help, don't worry." He reassured her as he tried to lift her up, but the heavy chains around her wrists stopped him. For some reason he felt like he needed to help her, desperately needed to help her.

"Why are you here?" he asked the fragile looking girl. She was so tiny. "Um, the…government told me I was too dangerous…" she mumbled, flinching as Zoro looked at the heavy, handcuffs. The girl's wrists were rubbed raw, and dry blood covered her hands. He glared, getting angry, how could this girl be dangerous? It looked as if he could break her with one wrong move, but what bugged himself more was his reaction. Why was he getting emotional? "Hold your hands out and as far apart as you can." Zoro ordered. The girl did as told and tilted her head in an act of questioning. He pulled out his cursed sword and raised it over his head, the girl's face dropped.

Zoro could tell she was scared, but the fact that she just shut her eyes and looked away, proved to him that this girl had some guts, and trusted him. In one fluent swing the chains connecting the tight, cuffs together cut. Allowing this stranger to move around a lot more, and she smiled at him, saying thank you in an action. Looking at her smile made Zoro's heart skip a few beats. This girl had long hair, but with the low light he couldn't tell what color it was. But her eyes were a bright enough blue that it was obvious. "Come on." He grunted, just realizing what he was supposed to be doing. He knelt down and helped the girl onto his back. "Only because we need to go fast…" he told himself as he felt her small body against his back.

He ripped open the door, only to realize he was right back to when he entered the door. "Dammit…" he mumbled. Footsteps could be heard from the above level and Zoro looked up at the ceiling, getting an idea. "As long as I go up, I can use anything." He smiled pulling out all three of his swords. "Hold on." Zoro told the girl on his back. He swung his arms, preparing himself. "Tatsumaki!" his voice rang out as he started spinning, using his swords to make a tornado of slashing metal. Zoro started spinning so fast that the legs of the girl attached to his back started flinging outward. Scared she clutched onto his neck harder, pressing her chest onto his shoulder blades, Zoro flushed a red color.

"Sure this girl was tiny, but she defiantly had a…chest…" he thought in his head. Nami's and Chopper's screaming could be heard loud and clear from above them, making Zoro stop. With a look up he smiled, he cut straight to the roof. "How…how are we going to get up there?" the tiny voice from his back asked. He almost didn't notice he was carrying her, almost. Thinking to himself again made him blush. "Climb." The swordsman answered, getting his first grip. She whimpered and held on tighter, almost making Zoro falter as he climbed. "Just don't look down." He mumbled back, trying to make her feel better. "Don't worry…I trust you."

Zoro's heart reacted to the compliment and he was glad they were at the top, because he almost fell. "Zoro!" Nami yelled, turning around to see the swordsman with a girl on his back. "I knew it was you, we were lucky it was only the after effect! We would have died if we'd been in the center of that goddamn technique! And who's that on your back!" Zoro gently let the stranger off and took a look at her wrists, which had started to bleed again with all the movement. "Tch, what's wrong with you two?" Zoro asked, taking out his cured sword again. He had to get the hand cuffs off. Suddenly, Sanji burst threw the roof a little farther away from them. "Shishinabe Shoot!" he yelled, flying threw the air. Zoro sighed and raised his sword.

"Don't worry." He told her when she closed her big, blue eyes. Within seconds, and a swing from his sword, the iron cuffs landed on the ground. Chopper's doctors instinct kicked in once he saw the girls wrist. "Are you ok? How old are these? Do you know an estimate of how much blood you've lost?" he asked, while changing into his normal, short self. She had little time to answer his questions before Chopper started treating her. Finally Zoro got a good look at the girl he had just saved, her hair was a bright, shiny blonde, complimented by porcelain like skin, and her eyes, he couldn't forget those eyes. The brightest blue he's ever seen, almost brighter then the sky itself.

"An angel! An angel sent by God itself!" Sanji yelled, coming up to the girl with a rose in hand. His eyes were huge hearts, pumping outside of their sockets. This angered Zoro slightly as he crossed his arms and acted normally, like always. The girl's cheeks turned pink, which stood out on her white, china doll-like skin. This made Sanji freak out more, until he saw her wrists. "My angel, who did this too you!" Sanji yelled. "Sanji calm down." Nami mumbled annoyed, but something differed from this situation and every other one, Sanji didn't stop. He gingerly took her hand and kissed the fingers. "My Goddess I shall protect you from here on out."

"I said stop it" Nami said, slamming her fist into his skull. While everyone was calming down Zoro noticed the girl taking in the sun, and all her surroundings. As if she had been in that cell for a long time, he wouldn't put it past the government. "Akuma, Kūki! How did they find you! Get away from the pirates, or we shall destroy you along with them. But we still have use for you, a great use, as the buster calls main weapon." Spandam yelled down at the group, eyeing the small girl. "The buster call's main weapon?" Nami repeated, taking steps away from her.


	2. Chapter 2

"How did you find the Buster Call's weapon! You idiot!" Nami yelled, punching the green-haired man in the head. "Hey! I didn't know... she was in a cell!" Zoro screamed back. "CP9…" the girl whispered as she hugged her knees to her chest, eyeing the group on the balcony. Spandam laughed at her obvious fear, placing his hands on his hips as he peered down at her. "Come over here before I have to send them over to get you." He sneered pointing at his group of assassins. The girl flinched, but shook her head, rejecting Spandam's offer. "Fine, CP9 destroy her along with them if you have to, we absolutely cannot allow her to go into the hands of pirates, spare her if you can, she's a great tool for the government." He commanded.

Zoro's teeth grinded together as Spandam called that girl a 'tool'. "So what's your power?" Luffy asked, totally ignoring the head of Enies Lobby. "Did you hear that Straw Hat! They will destroy you!" he yelled again, trying to receive Luffy's attention. "I control air…" she mumbled mystified by this unusual crew. They all seemed like a rag-tag bunch but she could feel the strong, invisible, rope-like connection attaching them all together. The boy with the straw hat held the thickest lines, connecting him to all the others, even a woman on the Justice Tower's balcony. But then she saw something she had never seen before, a line connecting the swordsman and her.

She had a connection? She had a…'friend'? "Wow!" Luffy screamed. "Amazing! What can you do?" the small, reindeer asked. She looked at both of them and saw the stars in their eyes. "Amazing?" she asked. They both nodded their heads, waiting for her to show them her power. "Well…what do you want?" the stranger asked the pirates, showing them a shiny, white smile. Zoro was dazzled, but only for a millisecond. "We could really use Robin right now." Nami said sarcastically, eyeing every member of CP9. Sanji nodded his head in agreement "Would make it a lot easier." Kuki nodded her head and stood, facing the girl they all had ties with, that must've been this 'Robin' they were talking about.

She raised her arms towards the woman, and in a swift movement, pulled her arms towards her, and in reaction Robin flew from the balcony. "Robin!" Chopper screamed, assuming that she was going to fall into the watery abyss below them. But instead of falling she floated towards the rest of her crew. "What! Stop her!" Spandam yelled as Nico Robin almost made it to the other building. As if on cue, Lucci, head of the assassin's group CP9, teleported behind the girl, grabbing her by the waist before flying to catch Robin. The girl screamed and flinched at his touch as he landed back on the balcony with a girl hanging in each arm.

The crew froze in disbelieve, one of their main enemies had just appeared in the middle of their group in the blink of an eye. What if he decided to attack? No one would have had enough time to respond…was that the extent of his powers? "Ssssso sssstrong." Ussop stuttered. Nami and Chopper just nodded in agreement, not taking their eyes off the dangerous man. Lucci dropped Robin, who landed with a harsh thud, but he kept Kuki in his arm. She tried to squirm away but failed, feeling like a sack of potatoes in his arm. "Give up! I don't want to be saved! I…I want to die!" Robin yelled, jumping up and throwing her voice towards her crew. "You can't mean that! They came all this way to save you!" a hidden voice yelled at Robin. Kuki looked behind Spandam to see a huge man, with a strange metal nose.

Luffy put his hand over his hat, covering the upper half of his face. "Say that when we get you back, not when you're captured. I will save you Robin, so say it, say you want to live." Tears rained down this women's face, as the meaning of her captain's words sunk in. "I…" everyone of the straw hat's crew watched Robin. "I…want to live! Please save me!" she screamed, globs of tears raining from her face. "Good, then we will…" Kuki looked down, they were all so lucky; they were living the life she had so desperately wanted. When she met that swordsman she thought that now all of her dreams were coming true, that she would get to see the world, feel the wind, sail the oceans, or at least be free.

But now, in the arms of Lucci, all those hopes were smashed, she would be transported back to her cell shortly after this mess. Locked up and forgotten. "And what about you?" Luffy asked, looking directly at Kuki. She froze "Me?" Luffy nodded his head, a sneaky grin etched on his face. "Do you want to come with us?" "You're inviting me…to join you?" she asked, tearing up a little herself. "Yes, so wants your answer?" Kuki's eyes slid over each member, ending with the green-haired swordsman. Zoro gave her a smile and a nod of the hair. "I want to live too, save me as well please!" she yelled, only to knocked out by Lucci. "Unnecessary noise." He explained, still holding the limp, unconscious girl by her waist.

Zoro gritted his teeth and grabbed the handle of his first sword and Sanji face looked as if it was going to explode; Nami noticed and put a hand on both shoulders. "Guys calm-down, I'll handle this." Luffy mumbled "Hey you, pigeon guy! Why'd you hit her you asshole!" he yelled up at Lucci. "Luffy!" Nami said angrily, hitting his head once again. "Hey Spanda, you want this right?" Franky asked, holding out a bunch of old papers. The entire CP9s assassins eye's widened, taking in the word on the front of the first page. 'Pluton', the pages that they had taken them 5 years to get. "Give them to me! Their mine! I need them!" Spandam yelled reaching towards them. But before he could reach Franky turned them around, to face the sky, and sucked in, puffing his cheeks out, before letting out flames of breath, turning the pages to ashes.

"No! Years of work, my promotion!" The chief of CP9 yelled, falling to the ground as he fruitlessly tried to save the blueprints. Totally ignoring Spandam, Franky walked to the edge of the balcony. "Hey guys, the bridge is coming down!" Ussop yelled, pointing over the edge of the roof they were all standing on. "Finally." Zoro smiled, laying his hand on the hilts of his three swords. "Ha you seem happy." Nami joked standing close to the edge with the rest of her namaka. "My blades are thirsty for blood." Suddenly an explosion stopped the drawbridge halfway. "Now what? How are we supposed to save Robin?" Chopper asked looking franticly for a way over to the Justice Tower.

The horn of the sea-train could be heard drawing near, another cheeky smile spread on Luffy's face. "How could you!" Spanda yelled, pushing the cyborg over the edge. Luffy stretched his arms out, surrounding his friends before jumping off the building. Robin stared in horror as her crew members fell to their deaths. The air filled with Nami's, Chopper's, Franky's, and Ussop's screams. Just as Luffy and his namaka were feet away from the ground 'Rocketman' flew from the building, catching them, before flying over the gap that separated them from Robin and, now, Kuki. Before crashing into the Tower of Justice, the sea-train caught Franky…and then broke threw the stone wall.


	3. Chapter 3

FF to when Lucci is waiting for Luffy "So what exactly did you expect from those low-class pirates? That they were going to take you away on the sea? That you were going to escape the Government and carry-on a crime of living away from the World Government cells?" Lucci laughed, raising an eyebrow at her sad face. "I hope Robin is ok…" she thought to herself, not listening to him. "Hm, by the time he get's here I'll show you what I mean. I'll show you how weak these 'saviours' of yours really are." He mumbled sitting beside her. "Don't you remember the day I found you? The day I brought you here. How can you not be thankful? How can you try and escape, after all I've done for you?" Lucci asked, holding her chin, forcefully making Kuki look at him.

Tears started running down her face. "All you've done for me? You stuck me in a cell to die!" she cried, trying to pull her face from his hand. But he squished her cheeks harder, not letting her escape. When Kuki was four Lucci had found her, weak, starving, and homeless. He brought her back with him to Enies Lobby because of her power, the one she received from eating the Kaze- Kaze fruit. Kuki had been kept here ever since, but for the first three years she was treated fine, until the day the government had decided she had gotten too powerful. Instead of killing her, they took away all of her free will and kept her in a cell, being too greedy of their weapons.

"It's your fault they keep me caged! Your fault!" she yelled, crying even more as her emotions started spilling out, the emotions that had been caged up inside her for ten years. "And how is it my fault?" he smirked, finding this whole situation hilarious. Lucci's reaction infuriated her more. "You trained me! If I just stayed the same then…then…" she stuttered, hot, wet tears dripping off her face. "Then what? Everything would be fine? Ha, your life is a joke. The Government is just acting like a stubborn child, not getting rid of it's toys." He said, finally letting go of her face. Kuki stared at the ground…did Lucci actually say that…the same Lucci that helped her when she was so lonely and cold fourteen years ago?

"The fact that you tried to go against the government is just proving me right. Maybe they'll actually let me kill you after this." He laughed, hovering over Kuki. "Shut-up!" she yelled, holding her hands over her ears. It pained her too much to hear him say this. Lucci's leg struck out his leg, hitting her in the stomach, sending her flying into the wooden crates by the wall. "How do you even think you can talk to me like that?" he asked, angry. Blood dripped out from the side of her mouth, trailing to her chin. She felt crushed the only person that had ever shown kindness to her was now excited to kill her after all this was over. "Then what was…what was with the…" Kuki started to mutter. "With the kindness? Haha, to get you to come with me I had to show you kindness, assassins are great actors aren't we?"

"Stop it." A voice commanded, walking into the large room Lucci and Kuki were in. Lucci looked away from her and to the doorway, where straw hat Luffy was standing. "Stop what? Telling the truth?" he laughed, sticking both his hands in his pockets. "Stop breaking her, I can't have a broken namaka in my ship." Luffy joked. "…namaka?" Kuki asked, as if she didn't understand the word. "Ha, don't get her hopes up, after I'm done with you, I'll kill her and your friend Nico Robin will be gone." Lucci smirked. Luffy charged, holding his shoulder as he pumped his arm. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy yelled, shooting his fist at the CP9 assassin.

Lucci dodged and kicked at Luffy when he got close, sending him into the crates that Kuki had fallen into. "Luffy! Are you ok?" she yelled as he crashed beside her. "Yes, I'm fine." He answered getting back up. "Luffy…" Kuki whispered, as he charged at Lucci again. "Gomu Gomu no Gatling Gun!" Luffy tried again, but Lucci dodged all, looking as if he disappeared and reappeared. But with each disappearance Lucci kept on getting closer to Luffy, until he got close enough to kick him again. Sending Luffy flying again, Kuki couldn't watch, Luffy was no match for Lucci, he couldn't even land a hit…unless she helped. She stood and pointed her arms towards Lucci, placing her thumb and ring finger together as if she was aiming threw the triangle at him.

"Kaze Kaze no Suffocation!" Kuki yelled, pulling all the air away from Lucci. He looked at her with anger in his eyes as he reached for his throat, gasping for oxygen that wasn't there. "Luffy now!" she yelled, not moving her eyes off of Lucci to keep her concentration. Luffy ran at Lucci again. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" he yelled, hitting the head CP9 assassin in the chest, making Lucci fly back into a wall. Luffy smiled, and looked at Kuki. "Awesome! Your powers are so cool!" he yelled, little stars shining in his eyes. Kuki sweat dropped, he was praising her…at a time like this? "What else can you do?" Luffy wondered, another cheeky smile playing across his face.

Kuki nodded and put her fingers into the triangle position again and aimed at the, now standing, assassin. "So I have to destroy you too? Hmm doesn't bother me, I would have liked to drag out your death but we don't always get what we want." Lucci laughed, storming towards her. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" Kuki yelled, slamming him back on the wall with a jet of wind. "As long as I keep my concentration I can hold him there." She informed Luffy. "Wow! So cool!" he yelled, hanging his mouth open wide in awe. Kuki couldn't help but smile, then something caught her eye. A thick line connecting her to Luffy…another friend? "Lost your concentration Kuki." Lucci said, slamming his leg into the side of her abdomen. Kuki gasped as her body hit the floor, all the air escaping her lungs.

"I thought I taught you better, what caught your attention?" Lucci wondered, walking closer her. "A….a connection." She spat out, gasping for breath. He hit her again, making her slide harshly into another wooden crate. "Ha, one of your stupid friendship connections shit?" Lucci asked, hitting her again, this time making blood spray out of her mouth. "Stop!" Luffy yelled, hitting Lucci in the side of the head. Kuki laid on the floor, unable to move. "Here." Luffy whispered "I'll take it Back one I kick this guys ass." He finished, placing his straw hat on her head, shading her eyes from any light. "Ha, you really think your going to beat me?" Lucci laughed, waiting for the pirate's attack.

"I need to get past that door to save my namaka, and I need to beat you for what you did to Kuki." Luffy said, everything on his face dark except his mouth. "You will not step foot threw this door." Lucci smiled "and as for the girl, I'm going to finish her off after you. Her life is a crime, exactly like Nico Robin's, and now, like yours" the assassin smirked. Luffy stood still, focusing, and as he did steam started rolling of his body, and Luffy's skin started changing red. Ripples on his lower legs occurred then pumped away, as if he was pumping himself with energy, creating more steam and turning his skin a darker shade of red. "Second Gear!" he said, while panting.


	4. Chapter 4

Zoro's POV "Prepare yourself to be attacked, without stopping, and with four swords." The giraffe like assassin informed Zoro. Kaku charged towards the pirate, attacking him with two swords and his razor sharp hove feet. Giving Zoro no chance to attack only to defend. "What a powerful attack…" Zoro thought, concentrating on every slash thrown at him. He wouldn't be able to handle much more wounds. "What's wrong? Is blocking all your able to do? You can't defeat me!" Kaku yelled, getting past Zoro's defences and cutting him twice with his swords. Zoro fell back, staggering from the hit. "Mere pirates never had a chance against the government. Everything is worthless compared to justice." The giraffe informed him, continuing with his attacks forcing Zoro back.

"Even those women! Lucci has tired of his toy and will discard her soon!" Kaku taunted, trying to wound Zoro again. A sudden impulse flew threw his body, making the assassin stop. Purple mist engulfed Zoro as his anger grew "Bastard…" Kaku froze, sensing something was different and seeing the shape that the purple mist had taken. "What, just now…For just a moment this man looked like a fierce God with three faces and six arms…What is he?" Kaku thought watching the pirate point a sword at him while panting heavily. "You got cocky…and said too much bastard." Zoro said, anger still pulsing threw his veins. The thought of Robin getting taken to that gate and Kuki with that 'Lucci' infuriated him.

"Did I offend you? Using my most powerful attack rankyaku 'Amanedachi', that I sliced the tower with, I'll slice you in two, and finish this!" Kaku yelled, spinning around and around on his hand. "You should give up, there's nowhere to run! This is different from that demonstration before!" he continued, still spinning. Zoro just stood there, glaring at the rotating giraffe. "Baka…you're the one that should give up." Zoro said, pushing away all the wind that Kaku had made. Suddenly an evil force surrounded him, making it dark. Zoro crossed two blades in front of him, with the other in his mouth. "Demon Spirit, Kyuutouryuu…Asura!"

Luffy and Kuki's POV "Oi, what's going on?" Franky yelled, running into the room. As soon as he saw the mess he froze in the doorway, Kuki was a bloody mess in the corner and straw hat Luffy was steaming…literally. "Franky! Go get to Robin, she's waiting for us!" Luffy yelled, keeping his eyes on his enemy. "Ok, Super Franky has this!" he smiled running to the door on the other side. "I won't let you past that door." Lucci said angrily, in his Leopard/human form. Franky's eyes widened as he closed in on him. "Jet whip!" Luffy yelled, kicking the assassin aside. "Go Franky, I can handle this." Luffy said again, waiting for his opponent to stand. The cyborg nodded his head and burst threw the doors, running franticly towards Robin.

"Soru! Shigan!" Lucci yelled, trying to attack the captain, but failed. Luffy disappeared and flew into the air behind the assassin. "Gomu Gomu no…" he started, stretching his arms. "Tekkai!" Lucci said, in a last second attempt to protect himself. "Jet Bazooka!" Luffy finished, slamming both his hands into Lucci's chest, sending him flying threw a wall. "Your panting pretty hard now, does it have to do with the steam?" Lucci asked, walking towards the pirate. Kuki finally gained consciousness, but could not move that well. She watched as Luffy and Lucci battled it out, both hitting each other and both were dodging. Luffy's skin started dulling, until it was completely back to its original color. , along with the steam, which disappeared completely.

"Hm, just as I thought. It only last for a little while." Lucci smiled, feeling like he had just gained the upper hand. "You feel like you can save everyone? Well the Buster Call is already attacking the islands, and what if water flooded the tunnel?" he asked, smirking

down at the panting pirate. "What?" Luffy wondered, caught by surprise. Without any more notice the assassin kicked back, breaking a part of the wall separating the ocean from the tunnel. Suddenly a waterfall of water started filling the huge room, finding its way to the mouth of the tunnel. "No!" Luffy yelled watching the water block the only exit for his crew. "Now has the silly thought of escaping here with all your friends died?" the leopard asked, enjoying Luffy's discomfort.

Kuki started gasping as the water splashed up to her face, not having enough strength to get up she had to lay there, chocking. Before the room filled up with too much water the zoan type fruit user jump up to the safety of the second level. With a frustrated sigh from Luffy he flung one arm at the chocking Kuki, circling around her waist and pulling her to him, freeing Kuki from the water's grip. "Asshole! Get back here!" he yelled before throwing his other hand to grab a hold of the dark, metal boarder. Once at the top he gently let her go, as she finished coughing up all the water left in her lungs. "Tch, you're still trying to save her?" Lucci groaned, as if Kuki was an eyesore.

Tears tried, but couldn't escape her eyes, maybe she was all dried up, or at least…that's how she felt. "Third Gear!" Luffy yelled, bighting down hard on his thumb. "I can finish this, but I might finish myself off as well…" Kuki thought, looking down at her fingers. Suddenly Luffy blew into his finger, inflating it to the size of a giant's hand. Her eyes almost exploded from her sockets, what was he doing! "Gomu Gomu no GigantPistol!" he screamed, hitting Lucci. Who flew threw the stone wall, falling back into the ocean. Was this the end of her assassin, torturer? No, Kuki heard the crash of wood; Lucci had landed on a marine battleship.

After Luffy jumped out of the fresh, hole in the wall Kuki was left alone to make her final decision. Should she use that technique? Her strongest one, but also the one that could damage her greatly. "If Luffy comes back here and if having trouble then I will, only because he is sacrificing so much for me…" Kuki decided, wiping at her raw, red eyes. Her hand instantly went to her middle back, feeling the small circular scars. She counted twenty, twenty, tiny, but noticeable scars from the injections she received. The injections Lucci had convinced the Government to give her, so she could learn a new, powerful attack. The attack that did almost as much damage to herself then what it did to her opponent.

Suddenly Luffy flew back into the hole, but he was only twice his size. Kuki looked at him, raising one eyebrow at the chibi Luffy. "What…happened?" she asked, as he trotted over to her. He grinned up at the girl before answering "After effects of Third Gear, give it a minute." Luffy explained in a voice a couple tones higher then his normal. For some reason Kuki couldn't hold back the laughter that had creeped up on her. "Hey, I'm not funny!" Luffy exclaimed, stomping his feet. "You're laughing at a time like this?" Lucci's voice carried to them as he stood in the 'new' doorway Luffy had created. Kuki's laughter caught in her throat, as she remembered her decision. "You're defenceless, but you still act carelessly, Straw Hat." He said casually, stepping into the huge room.

"Step back, I'm going to end this." She mumbled to the, still short, pirate captain. Luffy looked up at her, squinting as if he was trying to understand what she meant. Kuki stood in front of him, in the middle of the pirate and the assassin. She raised her arms, placing her fingers into her traditional triangle shape. Kuki gazed down her 'handmade' aiming system, seeing the shape of a smirking Lucci. He raised her eyebrow at him, knowing what she was planning. "Your not going to do it, you can't…you know what'll happen." The assassin laughed, casually taking strides towards her. "What…?" Luffy asked, eyeing Kuki, wondering what she was planning. "Kaze Kaze no Poison Breath!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Kaze Kaze no Poison Breath!" Kuki yelled, aiming down her makeshift sights at her old mentor. Lucci froze, she actually did it, she had actually done the forbidden technique. Purple tendrils of mist reached out of her fingers, entangling the assassin in it's grip. Soon all the air around Lucci had turned a poisonous purple, no matter how hard he tried to move, or swat it away the mist stayed with him. Encasing his body in the poison Kuki's body had been injected with. Suddenly she fell to the ground, feeling as if the veins in her hands were constricting, cutting of the blood flow. Kuki screamed in agony, as the pain started running up from her hands to her arms as well. Luffy looked down in surprise, his eyes widened as he saw a purple tint in Kuki's fingers, hands, and lower arms.

What was going on? Luffy lifted his eyes to Lucci, who was struggling to somehow get the purple mist away from him. He could also hear screaming coming from the assassin too, until the purple blob fell to the ground motionless. Kuki started squirming; she could feel the horrible heat stretching towards her chest, setting every nerve on fire. Thankfully, by the time the angry flame had circled it's hands around her heart she fainted from pain. As soon as Kuki had lost consciousness the purple mist disappeared, showing Luffy the body of Lucci, but stained a sickening purple. The assassin was dead, or at least an inch away from it.

He picked up Kuki and headed towards the bridge bout to jump to it and join his other Nakama. "Rankyaku…Gaicho" Lucci's voice murmured. A force hit Luffy, hard enough to send him flying and making him drop a lifeless Kuki on the stone floor. Blood splashed out of Luffy's mouth ass he hit the ground, as well as dripped down his face from his eye. "You honestly thought that took me down? I'm the one who made up that technique, who taught it to her! You don't think I gave myself the antidote? She is mine, I will do as I want with her, and I don't let other people use my scraps, I throw them away!" Lucci yelled, having a fair amount of blood dripping from cuts all over his body, but all the purple was gone.

"Luffy! Luffy get up!" Ussop yelled. Luffy moved his visible eye to see his ex-crew member standing at the edge of the bridge. "We're all ready, let's head back together! So stop looking like you're dying!" he added, almost in tears at the sad sight Luffy was in. "Hey, I'll be your opponent. I've made it all the way here on the Grand Line, destroying every island I stop at. And if the World Government goes against me…I'll destroy everyone of you with this finger!" Ussop ranted, holding up his pinky finger. No one could see the shakiness of his knees, as the brave warrior got scared with every word coming out of his mouth. Lucci just spat on the ground, ignoring the Straw Hat's sharpshooter.

"If you dare, come and fight me! You worthless kitten!" Ussop finished, yelling with all his might. Lucci froze and turned all of his attention to the man on the bridge. He took small, frightening steps towards the pirate, who was just now starting to understand the effect of his words. "Oi…oi…stop it…keep away from him!" Luffy said, trying his best to speak as he lay on the floor. The assassin didn't even turn to face him as he replied "I have no business with you…now that you're defeated. I'll kill them no matter what, you can watch from here." Luffy's eyes widened, shocked. "Yosh, bring it boss-cat. I'll send you flying." Ussop added, readying his weapon. "Baka! Quit it, Ussop!" Luffy yelled, trying to keep his Nakama safe.

"Shut-up! What are you going to do so close to death!" the sharpshooter yelled. "I…I'll kill him!" his captain yelled back, still on the floor. "Then stand up you Baka! Even though it's been blackened, we still see the sky, and we still see the sea. This place…this place isn't hell! So stop looking like you're going to die, bastard! Stop making me worry dammit!" Ussop finished, making his throat ruff and dry from all the yelling. "Are you done?" Lucci asked amused with this little act. "I got it…this isn't hell or anything." Luffy smirked, finally understanding. The assassin's eyes widened at the sight of the standing pirate. How was he able to move? "No matter what! I'm not going to give up…until I defeat you… I'm not going down!"

Luffy started panting, almost twice as much as he had before, still in his 'Second Gear'. His body looked as if it was burning and more steam started pouring off his body. The assassin pounced, trying to punch Luffy with two fists. Both, of which, the pirate caught with his own fists. Both started grinding their teeth together, as the pressure increased. Lucci jumped back, only to push back at the captain. "Madara!" he yelled. But Luffy deflected it easily, fuelled with anger and a goal to save all of his friends. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Pistol!" he tried, swinging a fast arm towards the enemy, coughing up blood as he pushed his body too hard. The leopard man sprang out of the way, disappearing into the air.

Reappearing behind Luffy, Lucci tried to hit him again. "You think I'll fall for that again?" the rubber man yelled, dodging the assassin's fist only to be caught in his tail. Luffy gasped as he realized what had happened, he got caught. "Sai Dairin…" Lucci started, placing both clawed fist in between Luffy and himself. "Rokuougon!" he finished, sending a huge burst of air pressure threw Luffy's core, blast the insides of his body. So much blood flew out of Luffy's mouth, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head, only showing the whites. Lucci panted as he dropped the pirate, finally glad it was over, no one could have survived that. The cat man started walking towards the direction where Kuki laid on the floor, still lifeless.

Luffy staggered, almost falling on the ground. He gripped his hands tight, forcefully making his body keep him up, making him cough up more blood from the stress. Luffy lifted his head to the sky and screamed a rough, painful scream. "Until I defeat you…I'm not going down…" his own words echoed inside of his head. Lucci stopped, sensing the pirate captain behind him. Turning his head he saw Luffy standing, and let out a growl of defiance. "Gomu Gomu no…" Luffy screamed, all his pain and suffering pouring into the words. "Jet…" Images of Robin, Kuki, and all of his other Nakama slipped past his eyes. "Gatling!" Luffy kept throwing terrifying punch after terrifying punch, at such a speed no one could see anything but the steam that was still coming off his arms.

He threw many more then he had needed to, the wear on his body was great. Blood kept coming up threw his mouth as he coughed, but he never stopped. Never stopped throwing his fists at the assassin, who wanted to take away all of his friends, who wanted to take away his dream. Luffy's eyes rolled back again, allowing only the whites to be seen. The steam multiplied and his skin burned with a new, intense red. "Stop!" a voice called out; Luffy couldn't yet register what it was requesting. "Luffy stop! You're going to kill yourself!" Kuki screamed, throwing her body into his, making him go off balance. His skin burned hers; she had to bite her lip to stop from screaming. "Stop…stop… he's dead."


	6. Chapter 6

"Stop…stop…he's dead." Kuki whispered, rolling off Luffy and onto her own piece of floor. They both lay there; panting and wheezing at the stress both of their bodies went threw. "Lucci, of CP9, was just defeated by Straw Hat Luffy!" a voice said, coming out of loud speakers. She looked out from the crumbling walls to see the huge battleships she once worked for. Kuki couldn't help but laugh to her self; they always thought Lucci could never be beaten. She wanted to see the looks on their faces so bad, but every breath hurt and she didn't want to know how it would feel to move. "It's over…that should be enough…" Luffy mumbled gasping for breath. "Ya… it should be." Kuki said back, smiling even though it hurt.

"Let's go back together! Robin!" The pirate captain screamed. Kuki's eyebrow raised in his direction, how could he be yelling, when she could barely crack a smile? Luffy's trademark, cheeky grin appeared on his face and Kuki couldn't stop laughing, until she started coughing up blood from it. "Luffy won!" Ussop screamed, his voice ringing inside Kuki's ears. She was finally free; she could finally get out of here. Kuki could hear the clashing of metal on metal, and lightning. "The Buster Call had let out their 200 Captains…" she mumbled, a little worried. When she turned her head she noticed Luffy's breathing, he was panting so hard. "Don't…worry about…them…my Nakama…are strong." He said in between gasps

"The pirate, Straw Hat Luffy… along with Buster Call's weapon, Akuma Kuki… seems to be heavily wounded. They still haven't moved from that spot!" The intercom from the battleships announced. Kuki grinned and forced herself to sit up, ignoring the pain. Luffy had saved her, now it was her time to help Luffy. "Sorry if this hurts." She muttered, grabbing onto his legs. Step after horrifying step, Kuki towed the pirate over to the edge, thinking that if she got him over there then he would be able to stretch and get them both on the bridge. "Oi, Luffy! Kuki!" a voice screamed. Kuki fell, not even making it half way, and looked up to see Ussop standing on the bridge of Hesitation looking down at both of them.

"What are you doing! Hurry up and get over here!" he called. Kuki's earlier energy dissipated, leaving her panting almost as hard as Luffy was. "We won't survive if we don't get out of here!" Kuki brought up her leg again, trying to stand up. Only to fall again and hit the stone flooring hard. Luffy turned his head to look at his sharpshooter. "What is wrong? It's only a little farther!" Ussop's words caused frustration in Kuki, why couldn't she just do it? Ten steps from her goal and she couldn't even stand, pathetic. "Luffy!" her hands formed into fists. "Can you hear me Luffy!" Kuki could see the pirate captain doing the same; she could imagine the frustration going threw his head as well.

"It's…no use…" Luffy managed to say. Kuki moved her head to look at him. "My body…" he was struggling to even breathe. "Won't move at all…" Ussop fumed at his captain. "Baka, didn't you defeat your enemy! Robin is saved; all we have to do is run!" Kuki looked over at the Straw Hat's sharpshooter, noticing a line running down to the ocean from the bridge, her eyes widened. "Ussop! Did someone fall off the bridge?" she screamed, hoping all of her new friends were ok. He stopped, turned around and counted the rest of the group…everyone was here…except Sanji and Chopper… but Chopper was on the boat… "No!" Ussop answered, knowing Sanji wouldn't have gone in. Kuki blinked, trying to fix her sight, but there it was a white, wavering line.

She looked at Luffy, and there too was a line connecting him to something in the ocean. "Ussop! We'll bring the ship over to where Luffy is!" Nami yelled, shocking two more captain's with the weapon he created for her. "Everyone, hurry and get aboard!" Suddenly something exploded, Nami's face dropped as she looked behind her. Their only way for escape…had just been destroyed. She dropped to her knees from shock. The entire crew turned their heads, watching their escape boat burst to flames. "No way… that was our only way out of here. Now there's no hope." Franky muttered, about to punch a marine. "Kokoro-san…Chimney, Gonbe, Chopper!" Nami yelled, screaming the names of all the people that were on the boat before it got shot at.

Robin watched the flames, as they ate away at their escape boat. Suddenly, threw the smoke, she saw a shape. "Sanji!" she yelled, seeing the blonde-haired cook run out of the flames carrying all of their friends. "We made it!" he yelled, running like a crazy man, with Kokoro in one arm, Chopper in the other, and Gonbe and Chimney hanging onto his shoulder. "Out of the way!" Sanji yelled, still running as he past the Marine captains. "Thank goodness." Nami sighed as the cook stopped in front of her, dropping all of the other people. "Where have you been?" she scolded. He put both hands on his knees, panting for breath "Sorry, I just had something to take care of…but damn, this is bad. I thought they wouldn't attack us since we had Robin-Chan."

"Fire." The Marine head commanded, standing near the bow of his ship. The lower Marines did as they were told, shooting at the bridge of Hesitation, killing many of their own Captains. Nami, Sanji, and Kokoro ran, with Sanji holding the rest, just dodging the canons as they flew near them. "Force them into the second tower." He commanded again, destroying the bridge and all of his soldiers on it. The cannon fire kept getting closer and closer until Sanji just picked up everyone and ran. Not stopping until he reached the second tower. Where he dropped everyone and turned to stand by Zoro. They both destroyed any stone from the bridge that flew at them, keeping their friends safe. "Tch, casting their Nakama off like that." Zoro mumbled with a sword handle in his mouth.

"Prepare to fire at the first tower." The intercom commanded, as the huge battleships moved into position. Kuki looked up, into the barrels of three huge cannons. "Eliminate Straw Hat Luffy and Akuma, Kuki." She couldn't stop smiley at the irony, as soon as she was free, her captures were going to kill her. "This is bad…" Luffy muttered, still not having the strength to move. "No shit." Kuki answered, still smiling. "Robin, can you get them?" Sanji asked, looking from the first tower to her. "It's no good; the farthest I can bring them is to the sea." She answered, crossing her arms and creating new ones on herself. "Hang in there kids!" Kokoro yelled. "Pirate-niichan!" Chimney cried.

"What are we going to do…I can't let Luffy die." Kuki thought, trying to prop herself up. "Luffy, Kuki, stand up!" Nami yelled, almost in tears. "You gotta do something Luffy, you can't let a women die!" Sanji screamed, before kicking aside another, persistent Marine Captain. "This is bad…this is really bad…" Luffy said, struggling to move his hands. Kuki finally propped her hands up, and made a triangle. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" She yelled, using the rest of her energy on the one battle ship facing them. The force pushed the boat, sending it backwards and broke the main cannons. Screams and loud voices scrambled around the ship, trying to figure out what to do. After that she laid her head down, she too, now, couldn't move.

"There are more boats…I tired…" Kuki announced to Luffy, defeated. Another Ship took place of the one she blew away. All of the crew was yelling, trying to give Luffy some strength with their words. Suddenly Ussop's ears perked up, the sound he had heard earlier…what was it? "Who is it!" he yelled, cupping his ears with his hands to help him listen better. "Baka, do you want to get killed?" Franky asked after hitting another Marine away from Ussop, who wasn't paying attention. "Whose voice is this?" he wondered, ignore the cyborg that had just saved his life. "That's right… it's the same as that time…" Ussop discovered, as he mumbled to himself. "Who's the one that been calling all this time?" he asked Franky.

"Huh?" the half-robot asked, raising and eyebrow at the crazy sharpshooter. "Do you hear that?" Luffy asked, still panting. Kuki couldn't even turn her head to tell him how stupid that question was, she could hear a lot of things. "…below?" he said out loud, as if someone told him that. Suddenly the entire crew could hear it, the ghostly words, but only the crew. "Five seconds until firing at targets." The intercom shared. "Jump into the ocean!" Ussop ordered, tears streaming down his face as he did. "Four seconds!" the speaker screeched. "To the ocean!" Kuki looked up to see the pirate on his knees, screaming at the cry.

"Robin, can you get those two into the ocean?" Ussop asked, looking back to his Nakama. Robin looked back, trusting the look on his face "Leave it to me." "Idiot, are you trying to kill them!" Zoro asked, his word mumbled from the handle stuck between his teeth. "Three." Luffy tried moving his hand desperately now, trying to get enough energy to save himself along with Kuki. "We'll be ok… he came to save us! We still have another Nakama!" Ussop yelled into Zoro's face, grabbing onto his shoulders, almost shaking the swordsman. "Two." The crew all ran to the edge, preparing themselves. "Cien Fleur." Robin said, crossing her arms.

Ton of arms popped up around Luffy and Kuki, lifting them up from the cold floor. "One." Kuki looked over at Luffy, who also looked shocked. "Delphinium." Rows upon rows of Robin's arms popped up, leading towards the edge. The arms started rolling the both of them to the edge. "Luffy…I'm…afraid of heights!" Kuki screamed as she fell. "To the ocean!" the Straw Hat Crew yelled, jumping of the edge. Kuki's scream echoed, she started flaying around, she was deathly afraid of heights, her heart felt like it was running a mile. Suddenly a pair of strong arms circled around her small body, automatically making the girl feel safer as she fell towards the deck of a small ship. "Hold onto me, or the lands gunna hurt." Zoro said, as he hugged her close to him.

Kuki's cheeks flamed and she looked away from his grinning face. "Let's go, everyone!" a child's voice echoed threw the air. She turned her head, searching for that child. "Fire!" the Marine yelled, commanding the battleship's cannons. Kuki tucked her head into the swordsman's chest as the cannons blew up the rest of the tower Luffy and she had been in. Zoro's heart sped, running a marathon inside him. "Back to the sea of adventure!" the voice said again. Kuki looked down to the boat; each one of the falling crew members had a line connecting them to it. "So this is what I saw, and is the voice…coming from the boat!" she wondered, still falling.


	7. Chapter 7

"Wait…we can't land on the boat…" Kuki discovered, seconds from her landing. Zoro smirked "Hold your breath." They all plummeted in the water around the same time, crash after crash. Kuki felt the drain of energy instantly as the ocean took away more energy, making her feel even more tired then she was. Kuki almost felt calm drifting down, deeper into the darkness. No weight was on her, she felt like she was floating, until something grasped her arm, pulling her up towards the light of the surface. Kuki looked down to see Kokoro swimming as she was holding Chopper, Robin, and Luffy. "Get on there, Devil Fruit users!" the older women yelled, throwing all four of them to the boat. Kuki screamed, as she was falling once again. ,

"Robin-chwan, Kuki- swam! I'll catch you both!" Sanji yelled, swaying his arms up in the sky. "Tch." Zoro mumbled as he went out of his way to catch the tiny girl. Robin fell into Franky's arms as well, making Sanji feel crushed. "You…dropped me?" Kuki asked, looking up at the swordsman. He stopped and blushed a little. "No…well ya… Chimney and the bunny fell on me…and Kokoro said she'd get you…" he tried to explain, pointing at the little girl running around the ship with a bunny close behind her. Kuki smiled, and closed her eyes. She was so, so tired. The swordsman stood there, awkwardly, as the tiny woman slept in his arms. "Marimo-head! You don't disserve to hold a lady!" Sanji yelled, running up to him.

The cook reached out to grab Kuki from Zoro, who swung her out of his grasp, as if they were little children and Kuki was a new toy. "Guys! Put her down! Look at how tired she is!" Nami yelled, slamming them both across the head. Zoro, grumbling under his breath, laid Kuki against the deck, propped up by the wall that held the kitchen inside it. Chopper's eyes started to water as he thought. "It's Merry…It's Merry! I love Merry so much!" Ussop curled around the mast, as if he was hugging it. "Merry's still alive… Why did you do this!" he yelled, asking the ship a question. "I can't believe it…this ship fell in the ocean!" Franky said, thinking back to before they all had left Water 7. Luffy still laid where he had fallen, not moving.

"Baahhh." Luffy gasped, breathing out finally "That was close, I thought those battle ships were going to kill us!" he looked over and there sat Robin, kneeling down facing away from everyone. "Oi, Robin. You saved me thank-" Luffy tried to say, but one of Robin's mystical arms covered his mouth. Robin was an emotional wreck, a good one. The feeling of relief felt so…good. Images of her Nakama trying to save her, and standing up for her flew across her mind. Even this stranger, how a girl she didn't even know had risked herself to try and save Robin. She stood and faced the rest of the crew, who all stopped what they were doing to look at her. "Everyone…" Robin paused on the individual faces of each member.

"Thank you!" she finished, tears growing in her eyes. Each Straw Hat smiled, as if they were relieved with what had come out. "Don't mention it." Luffy laughed, still lying on the deck. Chopper, who was also lying on the deck beside Luffy, started copying his laughed and smile. "Save that kind of stupid conversation for after we escape." Zoro explained. Soon after Chopper and Sanji both started trying to hit him. "It's not stupid!"

"Shut up!" Zoro yelled back, deflecting each hit with his two, unbroken swords. Chopper bit his leg, holding on. "Apologize to Robin!" he demanded. "Hey Chopper, are you moving?" Zoro asked, looking down at the reindeer attached to his leg. Chopper let go and looked at himself. "I am moving! Zoro…" he started to say, changing into heavy point first, as he sat on the swordsman. "Apologize!"

Robin chuckled into her hand as she watched her Nakama goof off. "Now everyone, let's get out of here!" Nami called out, raising her fist to the sky. "Yeah!" the entire crew answered, energetic. "All ships prepare to fire!" the Marines called threw the speakers. The metallic noises of the large cannons rang loud as the pirate boat tried to sail threw the battleships. The crew scrabbled about trying to get away as fast as they could. "Let's catch the wind and head east!" Nami's voice commanded loudly. Kuki opened her eyes slowly, not wanting to give up her short nap. "It's no good we're surrounded!" Zoro yelled not knowing which ship he should face off with. "Their all aiming at us!" Ussop said, still hugging on to the mast.

"Fire!" and at that Kuki's eyes flew open. "They're not going to miss!" Franky yelled, watching the cannons shoot out of the large barrels. Kuki raised her fingers, to use her powers if she needed to. But, to the Straw Hat's luck, all the cannons missed, one even hit another battleship. "Out of the way!" a Marine said from a ship, coming too close to another. "We can't!" the boat yelled back, right before they crashed. "What is going on?" Kuki asked out loud, the Buster Call never messed up, and had only the best sailors aboard. The pirates watched as each boat hit another, sending some Marines into the sea. "It's that." Robin explained, pointing to the gate of Justice, which was now closing. Kuki's eyes started widening; if they didn't get out of here they were done.

"It worked better then I imagined!" Sanji smiled. It finally clicked in Kuki's head, he had pulled the lever. She ran to him and grabbed onto the sleeve of his shirt. "Sanji-kun! You did that? We have to go now!" she said, her face drenched in fear. The cook turned and fell to his knees. "Don't worry Kuki-swan! I'll keep you safe!" In his head this was totally different; Kuki was dressed in a kimono for maids and him as her master. "Sanji-sama!" her voice rang on the insides of the cook's head. Blood dripped out of his nose as he fell to the ground mumbling 'cute' over and over again. "Sanji…are you ok?" Kuki worried, kneeling beside him.

She started trying to shake him out of it, but with each shake the blood coming out of his nose sped up. "Chopper!" Kuki called, worried. The tiny doctor trotted over, taking one look at Sanji's face he smiled. "You should just not touch him." Chopper laughed. Shooing Kuki away. The water started getting rougher…tossing the boat a little. "Ah we're going to die!" Ussop yelled, digging his nails into the mast, as their boat tossed and turned. Luffy just laid on the wooden deck, sliding back and forth. Kuki held out her foot to stop him. "What do we do Navigator!" Robin called out over all the noise.

"Ugh, we need speed!" Nami cried, grabbing her hair with both hands. Kuki looked up at the navigator, smiling as she felt useful. "How much speed do you need?" she asked, smiling evilly. The navigator raised an eyebrow as she slowly understood, smiling like Kuki in a matter of seconds. "What are you two smiling about?" Zoro asked, watching the both of them just stare at each other. "We need speed, and how does a sailing ship move?" Robin suggested, almost spelling it out for the swordsman. Soon, Zoro wore the same smirk on his face. "I don't understand!" Luffy cried out, finally sitting up on the deck. "Wind, you Baka."


	8. Chapter 8

"Everyone hold on!" Kuki warned as she picked her spot to stand, which was on the top deck by the edge. Most of the crew did as told, Chopper, Ussop, Nami, Robin, with the exceptions of Zoro, Sanji and Luffy, who all believed that they didn't need too. Luffy stretched his arm and pulled himself to his favorite spot. Sanji stood by the kitchen doors, looking up every now and then with heart shaped eyes. Finally, Zoro decided the worst place, high up in the crow's nest. "We're ready…let's go!" Luffy commanded, pointing forward. "Wait, how about navigation?" she wondered out loud. "That's what I'm here for, when I say go, add wind, and if I say stop, stop." Nami instructed with a thumbs up. Kuki nodded her head in response.

"Head North!" Nami said to Chopper, one was steering the ship. After a quick turn Nami gave Kuki the go. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" she yelled, aiming down the sights to the sail. Suddenly the ship lurched forward. Throwing Luffy from his seat and almost knocking Zoro from the nest. The boat sped ahead, faster then any other ship the Straw Hat's had ever been on. Chimney flew up with her bunny close behind. "Pirate Nissan!" She yelled, grabbing onto Zoro's face up in the crows nest. "Hey, get off!" he mumbled as the girl hung on by his cheek. The Going Merry was going knots ahead of the heavy battleships, in a matter of seconds they were out of shooting range. "We did it!" Ussop screamed, letting one hand let go of the mast.

The boat started creaking from the pressure of wind Kuki was placing on the sails. Long, hollow groans could be heard from the underbelly of the ship. "Merry…" Kuki said under her breath, letting up on the strength of the Jet Stream. "Will you be ok here?" Kokoro asked, dropping Luffy on the head of the boat, his favorite seat. "Yosh!" he answered laying belly-down on the lamb figure. "Thank you Merry…we got away because of you." The pirate captain laughed, as if he was hugging his ship. "I never thought that Merry would come save us." Luffy pointed out to his crew, who all watched him from the main deck, all except Kuki who was still projecting wind into the main sail.

"Now that I think about it…it makes sense, we've always been protected by you." Luffy carried on. Smiles found their way to each pirate, going threw their own individual memories with Going Merry. "I'm so glad you're our Nakama. Thank you Merry." He finished, placing his head against the head of the ship. "But you know…" Franky interrupted. "You guys did some pretty unbelievable things." He laughed, praising the pirates. Luffy rolled over so he faced the sky, smiling like a goof. "Burning down the World Government's flag, defeating the CP9, and escaping the infamous Buster Call." The cyborg smiled, pushing down his glasses a bit so he could see everyone. "Oh…and stole a main weapon." Franky laughed, pointing at Kuki.

She blushed and lost concentration on the sail, slowing down the boat a lot. "What? It's nothing special, just saving a stolen Nakama." Luffy answered seriously still gazing up at the clouds passing by. Kuki started to aim her hands at the sail again when Nami looked at her. "I think we're good for now, come down and rest." The navigator said with a friendly smile. Kuki nodded and started her slow way down the stairs, Nami was right, she was so tired. Kuki walked over to her new shipmates, sitting at the neck of Luffy's favorite seat. Zoro sat down as well with a tired look sketched on the swordsman's face. Kuki let out a yawn and started to close her eyes, today had more excitement in it then she had had for years.

"Not here either, what's going on?" Nami muttered, shaking her head as she closed the storage room door. "There really isn't anyone here…" Sanji blew out his smoke, focusing on the ground, "that's weird…" "That's because it's Merry." Kuki sighed, still having her eyes closed. Everyone looked at her, creating a silent, awkward environment. She opened one eye and blushed once again from having everyone watching her. "I mean…like…it was the boat…I can tell…the lines…" Kuki tried explaining but failing as she just confused everyone more. "Oi, you mean those 'lines' Pigeon guy was talking about?" Luffy asked, sitting up staring down at her.

"Yes, the connection lines I see…" Kuki answered smiling up at the captain. "Wow, you see lines!" Chopper asked, leaning close to her face. "Well, I can see lines connecting people and things emotionally, like all of you. All I see when I focus is a web like gathering of misty lines connecting all of you together…and each of you have a line connecting you to this ship. So that's how I know it was Merry-" Kuki went into detail trying to explain until Robin cut her off. "Because you can only have connections with things with a mental conciseness…interesting." The archeologist finished, staring at Kuki as if she was receive interesting knowledge. She smiled at the older woman, "Exactly."

"So that voice…" Sanji asked, waiting for Robin's answer. "Was Merry's, I know it sounds crazy but I'm one hundred percent sure it was." Kuki answered instead. "Really?" the doctor asked, creeping up closer to the small girl. "Yosh! I know it too, I could tell." Luffy added smiling as he crossed his legs. "Merry say something!" he commanded, patting the ship on the head. "Baka, ships don't talk." Zoro muttered, surprising Kuki who thought he was asleep. Franky stood there, crossing his inhumanly, large arms across his chest, remembering when Ussop had told him about what happened in Skypiea. "Huh?" Luffy asked, hearing a noise from the sea. He turned around to face the usual way he always did.

"There's a ship coming this way!" the pirate called out, pointing in front of him. Kuki shot up, to see if it was a threat. A huge, passenger ship, almost bigger then the Marine's battle ship was heading their way, with 'Galley- La' written on the massive sails, but she didn't feel any negativity coming off it. "It's the Straw Hats!" a voice on the ship called out, obviously happy. "They're alive!" Robin chuckled as the excited voices carried over to us. "You guys are ok!" another shipwright yelled, jumping up and down. Luffy smiled and waved back, "Oi, Ice-Ossan!" The man with the blue hair smirked, having his little pet mouse wave instead.

"Baka-berg…" Franky said under his breath, not having anyone hear. "You guys really did get everything back…" Iceberg said, eyeing Kuki "and more." Suddenly, the loud, vibrating groans from the ship started up again, louder then before. Each side dipped down, ripping the front of the boat away from the back, only the keel keeping both pieces together. This sent the Straw Hat crew flying to the back end, all except Zoro and Kuki, who miss stepped, falling backwards into the hole. She reached out her hands, instinctively grabbing the closest thing to her fingers…Zoro's hair. "Oi!" he yelped, falling back into the hole with the girl. "Ahhh!" she screamed, falling again for the third time in a couple of hours. "Kuki-swan! Your prince has you!" Sanji screamed out grabbing her hand before she fell any further.

But, sadly for Zoro, Kuki had let go of his hair, making him fall into the bottom of the boat with a crash. The cook pulling Kuki up, holding her close in his arms. "Zoro-kun, are you ok?" she asked, worrying. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." The swordsman's voice said, as he held his head. "Don't worry about him, the marimo block most of the fall." Sanji explained, hearts pumping out of his eyes as he still held her tiny frame in his arms. "Shut-up love-cook!" Zoro yelled, shaking his, now unsheathed, sword up towards the blonde. "Um…ugh…Sanji-kun…you're still holding me…" Kuki whispered, staring up at him. Sanji's face showed full bliss, his eyes looked as if they were stuck in their heart shapes. "So…cute."

"Mmmerry…" Chopper cried, bringing Kuki, Sanji and Zoro out of their situation to reality. The boat that had just saved them…had almost ripped in half. "We should have expected this." Franky explained to all of their shocked faces, "I'm surprised this ship made it this far." Zoro, climbed up to the deck, pulling himself up before glaring at the cook. "Ossan, this is bad! Merry's in trouble, please do something!" Luffy yelled to the other ship. The head of Galley-La sighed and patted his pet mouse on the head. "You guys are just in time! You're all shipwrights, right? Please, do something!" the pirate captain pleaded, "He's saved us, and he's our Nakama!" Iceberg's eyebrows pulled together in anger, "It's time…to let it go."


	9. Chapter 9

The entire crew stood in silence on the dingy, sending out their mental goodbyes. The sea had calmed down; maybe giving the Straw Hat's some time…maybe. Kuki wrapped an arm around the child-like doctor as he wept. Chopper looked up, wiping his face with his arm. "Thanks…" he said, looking back down at his hooves. Kuki just nodded and looked ahead. Luffy was on a smaller boat, by himself, closest to Merry. He held nothing, nothing but a torch. "Merry, you've helped us so much…" the captain whispered. The cloud cover made everything a shade of grey. Globs of tears rushed down Ussop's face, no matter how much he tried to wipe them away his face was still soaking. "You've been with us for such a long time…"

"It's lonely down at the bottom of the sea, so we came to see you off." Luffy explained, holding the torch closer to Merry's base. Kuki couldn't watch anymore, so she looked up at the cloudy sky. "Snow?" she asked, watching the fluffy, small globes fall towards the ground. Every one looked up, seeing the pure white flakes flutter around them, as if they were dancing. "Why is it snowing just above Merry?" Zoro asked, pointing out the circular break in the clouds. No one answered; they were all still so mystified. Finally Luffy placed the torch onto the wood, slowly catching it ablaze. The fire trailed inside the long cut, reaching the other side before it's flames started to ascend to the deck.

"How are you?" Zoro asked the sharpshooter, who stood silently, watching the flames eat away. "Farewells always have to come." He sighed, not taking his eyes away from Merry. Luffy threw the torch into the sea, having no other use for it, and watched as his boat started drifting back towards his other crewmates. In a matter of minutes 'Going Merry' was engulfed in flames, each half falling apart slowly. "Letting us ride for such a long time…thank you Merry." The captain said. Every one watched, with no more tears. A pillar of smoke started it's trek to the sky. Each crew member's mind ran threw memories, the good and bad that they have had with their beloved ship. The mast cracked, falling over on the side of the boat.

"I'm sorry…" the childish voice rang again. Kuki cracked, crying finally, along with Nami and Chopper again. "I wanted to bring everyone just a little bit farther." Ussop soon joined them, having the tears overflow his scarf. "I'm sorry…I wanted to always go on adventures together." The boat apologized, falling apart more. "Merry!" the doctor cried, shoving his face into Kuki's leg. Nami fell to her knees, covering her face with her hands. "If anyone has to apologize Merry, it's us!" Luffy yelled, cutting off the boat, "I'm bad at steering, so I ran you into icebergs. I ruined your sails too. Zoro and Sanji are idiots, so they broke lots of things." The swordsman's face tightened at his captain's words.

"And Ussop tried to fix them, but he wasn't any good at it!" Luffy added, crying as well. The sharpshooter was an emotional wreck, weeping so much his eyes hurt. "If someone should apologize…" he tried to add, but it was too late. Merry had already started his decent to the bottom of the ocean. "But I was happy…" his voice said, even though he was gone, "you all treated me well…thank you. I was always so happy!" Merry said, creating little pools in Robin's eyes. Franky started balling as he patted Ussop for support. "All because of you!" he said at last, before finally disappearing. "Merry!" Luffy screamed to the sky, his heart aching as he lost one of his Nakama.

Fast Forward to Water 7 (two days later) The sky shined brightly, and the wind breezed lightly enough to still be warm. Kuki couldn't believe her eyes as she looked out the window. 'Water 7', her first island in years, and it was magnificent. "Here." Nami offered, holding a bathing suit towards her, since Kuki had nothing the navigator and Robin had offered to share until she got her own money. Kuki smiled and took off her old clothes, tossing them aside in the corner of the room. After she dressed into the bikini she looked in the mirror. "Do…you have a shirt or something…?" Kuki asked Nami. The orange haired woman turned, as if to ask why, but stopped when she saw. With a gasp, Nami had to cover her mouth.

"Kuki, your back!" Nami said, seeing each individual scar. "Scars…" Kuki answered, twirling her hair around a finger sadly. "There's…so many…" the navigator replied, shocked. "Twenty." Kuki pointed out, touching one of the circular marks. They were about the size of a quarter, and were scattered around her middle back. She had always been so…depressed about them…they were so…ugly. "What happened?" Nami asked her eyes still visibly wide. Kuki winced at the questions, remembering the pain from one single injection would bring her. Remembering how ill she would become after words and how her skin would be stained an awful purple for a couple of days. "Nothing." She replied, picking up one of Nami's black tank tops.

Zoro's POV The swordsman sighed, looking at his beloved sword that had been rusted away to nothing. He needed to get another, but how could he find another sword as great as this one? As well as pay for it. Glaring, he put the broken sword down, and decided to look at his surroundings. This sword was a gift from that shop owner in Louge Town, how could he be so clumsy as to get it destroyed beyond repair? "Baka…" Zoro said to himself, looking out towards the many broken ships. The wind blew and took off some more of the rusted metal. 'I wonder how much money Nami will give me…" he asked himself, starring out into the ocean. Kuki's POV "Achoo!" Nami sneezed, scaring the tiny girl.

"Navigator-Chan, are you getting sick?" Robin asked, opening the door. Nami nodded her head, shivering. "I just feel like someone's gunna asked me for money." She whimpered, and then started out the door to the pool. Kuki looked at Robin with a raised eyebrow, who just shrugged it off before heading over as well. Sounds of hammers and other construction could be heard from everywhere, as the town was trying to fix itself. As well as yelling from the large, metal gates. "I want to see the pirates!" or the occasional, "I need to apologize." Even though the towns people had good intentions they were not allowed in, for the pirates needed their 'rest'.

"Nami-Swan! Robin-Chwan!" Sanji yelled as both girls walked out in their bathing suits. Kuki stayed back, scared to walk out in a bikini and a tank top. "Where's Kuki-Tan?" the cook asked, looking disappointed when she didn't come out. Her face flamed as she hid behind the door. "She was behind us…and what's with the 'Tan'?" Nami asked, placing a hand on her hip. Sanji's eyes become hearts again and he grasped his hands together, swaying his legs together. "Because she's so cute and tiny, she just fits it." he explained, running off into the building in search. "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji yelled once he found her. She scratched the back of her neck embarrassed, "Hi Sanji-kun." The cook melted from her voice and seeing her in different clothes from her 'jail' wear. Kuki awkwardly stepped over Sanji and made her way towards the other girls.

Luffy was eating all the food on a large table, saving nothing for his Nakama. Good thing Kuki wasn't hungry. Just as she sat down on the beach chairs placed by the pool, Franky busted in. "Ow! Feeling Super you guys? Everybody…well not every one is around…well whatever…" the cyborg yelled, taking one of his signature posses. "Franky, what are you up to all of a sudden?" Sanji asked, off the floor and back to his original self. "Listen, I have something important to say! That 200 million berri I took, was spent of supplies…for my dream." He explained, getting into one of his emotional stages. Franky sat down, signaling that this was going to be a long story. "An island was destroyed from war, nothing was left, not steal, not houses, not people."

"Everything was gone, except a tree. No matter what happened, the tree still lived. There are only a couple of these trees in the world, and to get enough of the wood from these trees to build a boat costs 200 million berris." He said, lifting his glasses to show his eyes. "You spent our money on wood!" Nami yelled, about to go up and hit him aside the head. "Let me finish." Everyone settled down, willing to listen to what Franky had to say. "Along time ago, I promised myself I would never make another boat, unless it was going to be my dream boat…and since I'm going to make it…I was wondering once it's finished…would you all sail in the ship I created?"


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note: Thanks for all the reviews and views! :D I'm surprised at how fast I'm pumping out these chapters, usually I'm very slow T-T, but anyway I hope the story is going well for everyone! Give me some suggestions? (Hint, I want some ideas) **

**Kuki: but…does that mean you're running out of ideas?**

**Author: no…I just want filler before I move on…**

**Sanji: Aw Kuki-Tan! You're so cute when you're suspicious!**

**Kuki: and if this is a ZOROxOC thing then why has it been Sanji all the time?**

**Author: Because I feel like it would take Zoro-kun more time to actually come out with his feelings if anything, and let's be serious…Sanji goes after any decent looking female.**

**Sanji: …True**

**Author: Any who…on with the story!**

**Luffy: Yosh!**

The entire crew froze, what was Franky asking? "So, you mean you'll give us this ship?" Sanji asked excited, he could just imagine his new kitchen. The cyborg smiled and let his sunglasses fall back in place, "Yeah. If people I like are sailing it, then it'll make me the happiest. And you paid for most of it anyway." Everyone started smiling, each having their own visions about their new Dream Ship. "The only ship to make it around the world was made from this special wood; I'll defiantly show you an amazing new Nakama." Franky explained, getting excited as he even thought about building another boat again. The entire crew jumped for joy, screaming their thank you's to the shipwright, everyone but Luffy.

With a closer inspection, Kuki noticed a sleep bubble coming out of his nose. "He was sleeping?" she thought, still watching him shovel food into his mouth as he silently snored. Zoro's POV "What's with all the commotion?" the swordsman wondered, walking threw the crowd of worried people. As soon as he broke to the front he froze, a huge Marine battleship had just docked. But this ship was different, having a dog with a bone in his mouth as the head. "Vice-Admiral Garp! The Straw Hat's seem to be at the Galley-La main office!" a Marine yelled, addressing a man with a dog hat on his head. "Shit! A Vice-Admiral!" Zoro yelled running back threw the crowd. He had to go warn his Nakama.

"This is bad, we got found so quickly, and Luffy's still sleeping!" he said out loud, racing along the sidewalks of Water 7's metropolis. "I have to let them know fast!" the swordsman mumbled to no one but himself as he took a left turn. He started running down the alley, seeing a break of light…which turned out to be the shore. He stopped; sweat dropping as he wondered where this shore had come from. "Crap, was it the other direction?" he wondered, running back down the same alley. Which moments later he popped up at the same place. Gasping for breath Zoro glared down the water, as if he could scare it into showing him the right way. "What? The shore again? What's wrong with this island!"

Kuki's POV Suddenly the wall behind Kuki's beach chair smashed, sending bits and pieces of debris all around her. She looked up to see everyone staring at something or someone behind her. Slowly, ever slowly, she turned her head, trying to get a look at what had happened. "Are you the Straw Hat pirates?" A Marine official asked, glaring down at the girl. Scared to death Kuki didn't even breathe, she just took in the sight of him, confirming her fear. This was Vice-Admiral Garp, the man who had cornered the late Pirate King multiple of times, why was he here? "I have some men wanting to see Monkey D. Luffy." The Marine carried on, looking at the tiny girl as if he was peering into her soul.

Kuki started to wonder why there was an increasing pain in her chest, only to realize she wasn't breathing. "G….G…Vice- Admiral Garp." She muttered, finally taking in some oxygen. Sanji and Franky flew in front of her, to protect everyone. "Marines!" they both said, as if everyone else had not noticed. "Really…just as careless as ever…" the Vice-Admiral muttered, seeing Luffy sleeping in the far corner. And without warning, Garp disappeared, only creating a breeze as he passed each crew member and reappeared beside their captain. "What?" Franky screamed, turning to see that their opponent passed by them. "Dammit." The cook said, seeing how close the Marine was to the sleeping figure of Luffy.

"Wake up!" the Vice-Admiral yelled hitting the Straw Hat right on the head, sending Luffy to the ground as well as breaking some of the concrete. "Luffy!" Chopper said, watching in horror with every one else as they couldn't do anything. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" Kuki screamed, aiming at the old man. She knew she couldn't defeat him, no way in hell, but at least it would give Luffy some time to get up and defend himself. The Marine flew back a little bit until he got his footing, in which he turned and saw who had attacked him. Kuki amped the power of her attack, which was still going, but Garp still walked over towards her. "Grandpa!" Luffy yelled, finally getting off the ground. Now this broke Kuki's concentration, ending the attack.

Thankfully, Luffy's scream seemed to take the Vice-Admiral's attention off of her. "Grandpa?" the Straw Hats yelled in unison. "It hurts, it hurts!" Luffy cried, cradling the top of his head. Garp smiled, taking off his 'dog' hat, "There's no defense against a fist of love." Every one looked from the Marine to their captain and back again, one thing was for sure, they both shared the same goofy smile. "I've heard you've been acting pretty recklessly, Luffy." Garp laughed, looking down at his grandson. In replay the captain just stuck his tongue out in rebellion. Not only were Luffy's crew surprised with this whole family stuff, it seemed like Garp's underlings were too. "Isn't he a war hero?" Nami stuttered, taking multiple steps backwards.

"He is…" Luffy confirmed, hearing everyone gasp, "I was almost killed by my Grandpa tons of times in the past." "Hey now, don't start speaking ill off me!" the Vice-Admiral laughed, standing in his new 'doorway', "When I tossed you into that bottomless ravine, left you in the jungle by yourself at night, or tied you to balloons and let you fly in the sky, it was all to make you a strong man!" The team froze, feeling bad for Luffy's upbringing maybe that was the reason for his craziness… "It's not my fault that while you were out of my sight all of my hard work had gone to waste! I was forging you into a strong Marine!"

"I always told you that I wanted to be a pirate, didn't I?" Luffy accused, jumping up to defend himself. "You were corrupted by that red-head!" the Marine yelled, taking a threatening stance. "I owe my life to Shanks. Don't insult him!" The captain stated, glaring down his Grandpa. "W…what should we do?" Kuki asked every one else, staring at what was going on. "Nothing, do you wanna get in the middle of that?" Nami asked, pointing at the 'family feud'. The crew shook their heads. "Do you mean to tell your Grandpa what to do!" Garp yelled, grabbing Luffy by the vest and raised his fist as if to hit him. "I'm sorry!" Luffy screamed, not wanting to get hit by the Marine a second time.

"Emergency, Luffy's been caught by the Marines!" Chopper yelled confused on to what to do. The captain started squirming, trying to get away. Then…both of the Monkey D.'s…fell asleep. "What!" Nami yelled, falling to the ground. Robin started chuckling into her hand at the sight of those two. "Well, they're defiantly related." Sanji muttered pulling out another cigarette. FF Half an Hour "So this is your crew?" Garp asked, sitting on the ground. No one was relaxed except for Luffy and his Grandpa,

Who were now chatting away like it was a reunion. "Yosh!" the captain answered excitedly. Garp looked at the group, staring each member in the face. "Hm, seems like a good enough group." He answered, sticking a finger up his nose, "Oh…and is she tagging along with you?" pointing at Kuki, who flinched once he did. "No."


	11. Chapter 11

"No." Luffy answered. Kuki's heart fell, but it's what she expected. Not only had they saved her, but they risked their lives for her…a complete stranger, it would have been greedy to expect them to take her with them. "She's not just tagging along, she's my Nakama too." The captain added, smiling at his Grandpa. Nami hit him across the head, "Stop scaring everyone!" Suddenly the door opened, revealing a tired and panting Zoro. "There's…a Marine…battleship…at the dock…" he gasped, not looking up to see what was happening. "A little late Marimo-head." Sanji snickered, causing the swordsman to look up and evaluate the problem. "Shut up." He mumbled, finally understanding that no one was under any threat.

"Anyway…you two come here!" Garp called to two people behind him. Both of them started walking up, both were boys, one had pink hair, and the other wore strange black glasses and had long blonde hair. "Luffy-San, Zoro-San long time no see." The pink haired boy laughed as he entered the room, "Do you remember me?" The captain and first mate looked up, studying the two Marines. "Nope." Luffy stated, turning his head to the side. "It's me, Colby." He answered, smiling. "Colby? What are you doing in the Grand Line?" the pirate asked, just remembering his old time friend. "You were a lot smaller back then." The swordsman joked. Kuki turned and saw that Zoro had a smile on his face too; focusing her eyes she finally saw the connection. It was thin, but it was still there.

"I'm a commissioned officer now! And when I heard you guys were here I couldn't resist but stop by. Sorry if we scared you." Sergeant Major Colby apologized. "I'm here too!" the blonde said, waving his arm to get attention. "Who are you?" Zoro asked, making the guy depressed. "You…don't remember?" he asked, obviously upset. The swordsman just shook his head. "Helmeppo, Captain Morgan's son. I'm the guy who almost got you the death penalty?" he offered, trying to get some memories out of the green-haired man. Both Luffy and Zoro tilted their heads in confusion. "Anyway, you must be tired." Colby offered, walking Luffy back to a seat. "No, since you're here let's make it a party!" the captain yelled, throwing an arm in the air.

Soon Luffy and, his old friend, Colby had distanced themselves away from the rest of the group. "Just like his father." Garp laughed, watching his grandson walk away. "Hm?" Robin asked, leaning against the outside wall. "Oh, his father Monkey D. Dragon." The Vice-Admiral answered casually. "D…D…Dragon?" Kuki asked, staring at her new captain. "What!" everyone screamed, jumping a step away from Luffy's grandpa. "Opps shouldn't have said that!" Garp laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. No one moved, not even the Marines, as the sound of the Vice-Admiral's chuckle carried on. "So all of you should just forget it." He continued, showing everyone a close-eyed smile. "What!"

Kuki went threw the 'Monkey D.' family line, Vice-Admiral Garp, the man who could go against Gold D. Roger, the revolutionist Dragon, the most wanted man in the world, and finally, Luffy. It was crazy. After, violent, goodbyes from Luffy and Garp, the marines left, promising that this would be the only time that they would let the Straw Hat's go free. Sanji had turned on the massive grill out by the pool, starting on dinner. Nami had jumped in the beautiful water, trying to coax Kuki into joining her. "Come on Kuki!" she pleaded, holding onto the side of the pool. The girl grabbed her knees, pulling them in close as she shook her head. "Aw! Fine, then I'll bring the pool to you!" Nami laughed, jumping at the pool.

The navigator sat down in the space between the back of the chair and the tiny girl, wrapping her arms around her. "You're so cute!" Nami squealed, hugging Kuki close to her. "Nami, stop it!" she laughed, getting soaked. "Come in the pool then!" the orange haired girl compromised. "Oh…my…" Sanji said, feeling week in the knees. His eyes pumped out of his sockets, and blood started pouring out of his nose as he watched the scene between both girls. Kuki got up as if to run away, to only be pulled into the water by Nami. She jumped up, noticing that the water was shallow enough so she could stand; only coming up to her chest. Nami surfaced, laughing at the, now wet, Kuki.

"I…have food…" the cook mumbled still on the ground, holding out mizu-mizu meat towards the girls. Both took the food with a smile, taking a delicious bite. "Yummy! Thank you Sanji-Kun, it's so good!" Kuki yelled out, getting out of the pool to give the blonde a hug. He was too shocked to even hug her back, as seconds later she ran back to her lawn chair, giggling as Nami sat with her again. 'This is too much.' the cook thought, having too take his eyes off the girls before he lost too much blood. "Food!" Luffy yelled, signaling his return. Minutes flew by and Kuki was smiling more then she had ever in her entire life. Out from the corner of her eye she saw a flash of green. "Zoro-Kun…" she mumbled, and sure enough, there was the swordsman, sitting in the corner.

Luffy, Chopper, and Ussop sat around the dinner table, stuffing their cheeks so full they could almost not chew. "Oh it's them! Straw Hat!" the Franky Family yelled, running down the stairs towards the crew. "Oi! Come and eat!" the captain yelled, waving them to come over. "Barbeque!" they yelled, charging towards the food. "There are so much of us, we need more meat!" Luffy laughed, still stuffing his face. "I'm starving, can we join you guys too?" the giants asked, stepping over the fence. Straw Hat just nodded his head, having too much mizu-mizu meat in his mouth to speak. "The Giants! Oi!" Ussop yelled, waving his arms happily. "Straw Hat! You're awake!" the Galley-La company greeted them, towing in barrels of Sake behind them.

Kuki got up and walked to the same corner Zoro was, sitting beside him. This made the, normally calm, swordsman stiffen. "Zoro-Kun, how are you?" the girl asked, smiling at him. "Good…" he answered quickly, feeling a bit awkward. "I wanted to say, thanks-" Kuki started to say before two of the Galley-La workers interrupted her, Tilestone and Peeply. "We brought some sake, wanna have a little bet." They asked the both of them. "Of course." Zoro stated, always enjoying a challenge. "Sure." Kuki smiled. "Wait, you're going to enter a sake drinking contest…?" the swordsman asked with a smirk on his face. Both of the guys sat down beside the two, placing down their barrels as well. "Why…you think I can't do it?" she teased, grabbing herself a tankard from Tilestone.

"Oi, we get to drink with a beautiful Onee-San!" Peeply laughed, filling up each Tankard. Kuki's cheeks flushed at the compliment. "Hey, you pervert! Don't you have any shame!" Paulie's voice screamed, as he caught sight of Nami sitting by the pool as she ate. "Now this is a party!" Luffy yelled, throwing both his hands up in the air. "I'll start it off, ok?" Ussop asked the crowd, standing upon a huge stack of tables. "Ok!" they all answered, cheering him on as he sang his, Sogeking theme song. "Alright number one." Peeply stated, throwing back his head as he chugged his sake. Zoro and Tilestone followed after, leaving Kuki. "Tch, can't finish your first one?" the swordsman joked as he nudged her in the side.

Kuki stuck out her tongue and then chugged back the drink, finishing it soon after with a wipe of the mouth. Zoro smirked and shrugged, "You don't know what you just got into." Kuki shivered, never tasting alcohol before, and it burned the back of her throat. 'Why would people drink this?' she wondered as her eyes watered. "Round two!" Tilestone laughed, pouring each another drink. "Have you ever had a drink before?" Zoro chuckled, watching Kuki. "No…" she answered cheekily, "I didn't think it would be that bad" All three of them laughed, making her blush once again. "Let's see how long you can go, Onee-San." Peeply laughed, giving Kuki back her Tankard.


	12. Chapter 12

"Wow…" Kuki giggled, slamming down her tenth tankard of alcohol. Her cheeks felt warm and her breath felt hot. "You done yet?" Zoro asked, eyeing the girl. "Onee-San's done pretty good for her first time!" Tilestone laughed, slamming his mug down as well. "Better then my first!" Peeply chuckled, finding his own joke funny. Kuki put her finger up in the air, as if something just occurred to her. "What are we playing for again?" she asked, and when no one answered she fell into a fit of giggles, along with the three other men. "I say whoever wins get's the second place winner as their slave for tomorrow!" Tilestone suggested. Kuki stopped to think, having no problem with it she nodded and smiled.

"Deal!" they all cheered, clinking all of their tankards together as they chugged back the eleventh round. FF an hour "Tch, I'm surprised you made it this far." Zoro laughed, his cheeks just starting to become red. Kuki leaned back, her cheeks were already flaming and felt warm to the touch. "You know, who ever wins is gunna be a 'master'." She giggled, pointing at the sleeping forms of the two Galley-La workers. Zoro just smiled, he had the urge to win and he could tell this girl was near her end. Fireworks set off and Kuki looked at them in wonder. "Have you ever seen Fireworks?" Zoro asked, seeing her expression. She shook her head and shivered, still in Nami's bikini and black tank top. The swordsman noticed and leaned close to her, trying to warm her a bit. "Ow! The Sogeking's 9,985th song!" Ussop yelled, standing on an even taller, pile of tables. Franky led the dancing, which consisted mostly of hip and pelvic movements.

Everyone was having fun, Robin and Nami were enjoying drinks together at a table, Sanji was showing off his cooking skills to the town's people, and Chopper was off on the dance floor. "Let's keep on going!" Luffy screamed on top of a pile of meat. Everyone cheered, as more fireworks went off. "Here." Zoro said, offering Kuki his shirt since she was still shivering. "But Zoro-Kun, won't you be cold?" she asked smiling. He shook his head and still offered the shirt. Kuki took it and slid it over her head, it was still warm and then looked back at him. She blushed once again at his bare chest, but it wasn't like Zoro could tell, her cheeks were already red. "Again?" the swordsman asked, handing Kuki her, now full, tankard. For some reason his face was almost as red as Kuki's…

"I missed this…" she mumbled as she watched more of the colorful fireworks light up the sky. Zoro looked at her, wondering if that comment was meant for him. "Missed what?" he asked, still gazing at her expression of amazement. "Everything…the outdoors, people, anything really. The inside of a cell isn't really…'fun'." She chuckled, seeing more colors explode across the sky. "I've wanted to say…" Kuki started, turning to face the swordsman, both their faces were so close, "Thank you for saving me. Even though I was a complete stranger…you went out of you way to rescue me." Zoro's face flamed, not knowing what to do. "Y…you're welcome." He stuttered, turning his face away from the girl.

"Oi, Kuki!" Franky called, running up to the both of them. "Come dance with us, it's Super!" he laughed, pulling the girl up. The cyborg eyed Zoro's shirt, which was now on Kuki. It was long enough on this small girl to be a short dress. She started laughing, and looked back at Zoro. "Come on! We'll continue this after!" she said, grabbing hold of his hand as the cyborg pulled her towards the music. "Oi, I don't dance." The swordsman explained as Kuki pulled him along with her. "Neither do I!" she laughed, obviously under the influence. With no more excuses the three finally made it, Kuki started dancing right away, not caring what other people thought. Zoro shied away, trying to escape, until Kuki grabbed his hand again and pulled him towards her. Ussop had changed the speed of the song, now slower and calmer. Kuki leaned against Zoro, causing him to freeze. "I am so tired." She mumbled using him as support.

"Does this mean I win the bet?" Zoro asked, smirking down at the blue-eyed girl. Kuki looked up, "Fine." And the two went back to standing there as everyone around them danced. Zoro, slowly, placed his arms on her back. After the song ended, Zoro piggy-backed Kuki to her room since she was already asleep. He laid her down and got up to leave. "Zoro-Kun…" she whispered, as if to ask a question. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at the, supposedly, asleep girl. "Would it be weird…to ask you to lay down with me?" she wondered, staring at the green haired man with those huge eyes. To any other girl Zoro would have walked away, right there, but the pause was what got him, he should have kept walking when he heard her voice. Defeated, Zoro shuffled back over and laid down beside Kuki.

Not knowing what to do, he held his breath and stared at the ceiling, a mental war started in his head. Should he put his arm around her? Should he turn and face her? Should he wait until she was asleep and then just leave? Would she remember any of this tomorrow? Kuki had a lot to drink, maybe waking up to Zoro beside her wouldn't be the best thing. But all of those thoughts stopped once she placed her head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his chest; all plans of escape were dashed. Finally, he breathed out, relaxing a bit. 'It wasn't like they were doing anything, just sleeping.' Zoro told himself, turning towards the girl as he drifted off to sleep.

FF to the morning "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji called out, carrying a plate of fresh pancakes and fruit. Nami hated to be awoken by him, so he was going to try his luck with Kuki. 'Nothing helps a hangover like fresh food and oranges.' He thought to himself. Last night he had seen poor, tiny Kuki-Tan chugging drinks with Zoro. "That Baka Marino-head is going to get it if Kuki's in any pain." He mumbled, reaching her door. Without knocking, Sanji opened the door wide, smiling a closed eye smile, "Kuki-Tan, I've made you breakfast!" When the cook opened his eyes his heart froze over, there…on Kuki's bed…was Zoro…cuddling with his Kuki-tan! "Marimo!" Sanji yelled, kicking the swordsman out of the bed and threw the wall. The small girl rubbed her eyes as she sat up, making Sanji notice the shirt he was wearing…Zoro's shirt. He placed down the food and walked threw the hole he had created.

"Sanji-Kun?" Kuki asked, watching the cook leave. "Oi, love-cook, what's your problem?" Zoro asked, obviously angry with how he was awoken. "How could you take advantage of cute, tiny, innocent Kuki-Tan!" Sanji fumed, images of a devil like Zoro smiling as he dragged an Angel like Kuki off to his bed room. Zoro's mouth flew open, "It…it's not what you think!" he tried to explain, embarrassed. Zoro's cheeks turned red, making Sanji's anger grow. "It's exactly what I think isn't it!" the cook yelled, now seeing Kuki in the bed with Zoro as she cried out his name to rescue her. The image depressed him so much he turned and went onto his knees, mumbling about how he didn't save her.

"Oi, what's going on?" Luffy asked, walking outside. "Ya, it's too early for one of your guys' fights." Nami added, stepping out side as well. Soon the entire crew was outdoors, staring at the two, along with some town's people who had just awakened from sleeping outside. 'Don't say something stupid, don't say something stupid.' Zoro mentally yelled at Sanji. Kuki poked her head out of the new hole in her room, still in his shirt. 'That's not going to help…' he added, freaking out. "Zoro…" Sanji stared, pointing a threatening finger at the swordsman, "took innocent Kuki-Tan…" Zoro stood horrified, unable to do a thing. "to bed last night!"


	13. Chapter 13

"What!" Nami screamed, glaring down the swordsman. "Took her to bed…?" Luffy and Chopper asked, tilting their heads. "You can't be that innocent Luffy…" Ussop mumbled, he understood Chopper not knowing…but Luffy? Sanji still kneeled on the ground, too upset to stand. "Zoro, how could you do such a thing!" the navigator asked, hitting him on the head. "And wasn't Kuki drinking last night?" Ussop asked, making everyone stop. A dark cloud fell upon the green-haired man, ultimately humiliated. "That's even worse!" Nami screamed, hitting him harder. "Um, that's not what happened…" Kuki blurted out, stepping out from the hole in the wall. Everyone saw what she was wearing and still thought the worse, everyone but Luffy.

"Oi, why are you wearing Zoro's shirt?" the captain asked, tilting his head in the other direction. "I was cold last night and didn't have any clothes, so Zoro-Kun offered it to me." She explained, having complete memory of her first drunken adventure, much to Zoro's delight. "And he didn't make me sleep with him, I asked him to." Kuki stated, not understanding how that sentence sounded. Zoro's relief crashed as everyone froze. Sanji hit the ground with his fist, mumbling to himself about 'hypnotism'. "And I thought she was so innocent!" Nami stated, shocked beyond believe. "We only fell asleep on the same bed! Nothing happened!" Zoro yelled out, trying to convince his crew. "Is this true?" Robin asked Kuki, raising an eyebrow at the two, this was too funny.

"Of course, what did you think happened…" the girl mumbled. After a minute of silence her eyes widened, finally understanding what the Straw Hat's had thought her and Zoro had done. "No, that did not happen!" she practically yelled, pink in the face from embarrassment. FF a couple of hours "Navigator-Chan, we should probably take Kuki out shopping for clothes, so nothing like this morning happens again." Robin chuckled, still laughing at the situation. Nami nodded and went to their safe, trying to get out some money. Kuki sighed, wishing that she could just erase the last few hours. The navigator opened the safe and reached in to grab some of the 100 million Berris for shopping. When her hand only came out with one stack she reached in again…nothing.

Nami picked up the safe and stuck her head in it, looking for the rest of the lost money. "Nami, is everything alright?" Kuki asked, watching her struggle to get her head out of the contraption. When the safe finally released her, Nami turned her head towards Robin, Luffy and Kuki, giving them a freaky, close-eyed smile. "Where is the 100 million Berri that was here?" she asked, almost twitching. "Oh, it was spent during the party, on meat and sake." Luffy explained, stuffing his face with more breakfast. Nami's figure froze, "spent?" she asked. Kuki felt a bad aura coming off of the navigator, and like Robin, she took a step or two back. But Luffy seemed oblivious and still smiled back at Nami. "Yup, that's all that's left!" the captain smiled.

Nami breathed out, so angry she hit her own head off of the safe a couple times before looking back at the rubber-man. "Almost nothing remains!" she screamed, slapping the small pile of cash in her hands. "But it sure was fun!" Luffy laughed. Wrong move…seconds later the captain's head was triple its original size and black and blue all over. "Nami…is quite scary…" Kuki pointed out to Robin. "Yes, quite." After Nami finished hitting her captain she fell to the ground in tears, "I was going to buy furniture for own new ship." Robin walked over and put a hand on her Nakama's shoulder. "Let's take the rest of the money and buy some clothes." She offered, helping the crying girl up. "Oi, Robin. Since I wanna go out too can I have some money?" Luffy asked, smiling again. "I can't take it anymore! You'll get nothing!" the navigator screamed, hitting the captain once again. "Understood!"

FF to shopping The three female pirates walked along the sidewalk, gazing in at all the stores and markets that filled the area. Today was a beautiful day; the sun was shining bright, making it warm and brightening up the water that was everywhere. Nami was pulling Kuki into many stores and started buying her, as well as herself, many items. From dresses, to winter clothing, Kuki now was fully prepared for any climate and any occasion. She had so many bags that her arms started to hurt, but she was still too happy to actually be owning something to notice. On the girls way back to the Galley-La head quarters, Kuki noticed a store. "Um Nami, do you think I can have the rest of the money and go to one more store?" she wondered, feeling bad for asking for more money.

"Sure, and since this is you're first time you only have to pay me back double with no interest ok?" Nami explained, acting as if this was a major deal she was offering. "Alright." Kuki answered, not understanding what the navigator meant. Robin chuckled and took her bags, "I'll bring this back, just don't get lost." The girl nodded her head and said thank you, taking the money and running off to the store she had seen. The old, wooden place reeked of dust, and the door creaked as she opened it. A weapon shop, Kuki had always had some sort of fascination with weapons and there were so many different styles here. From swords too guns and everything in between, this store had amazing pieces, but something caught her eye. A pair of black, fingerless, gloves, with metal pieces stuck to each knuckle.

"What are they…?" Kuki wondered, walking up to them and placing her hands on the glass case they were in. "Those, Onee-San, are a special pair of weapon gloves." An old man recalled, stepping out from the back. "What do they do?" she asked, smiling down at them. "They shoot, air-light, sharp, metal out of the knuckles." He explained, obviously happy to have a costumer. "Wow!" Kuki said, her eyes turning into tiny stars, "How much?" The old man smirked and eyed the money in her hand. "How much do you have?" he asked. Kuki looked down into her hand, calculating it all up. "50,000 Berri…" she told him, hoping she had enough. "Oi, Kuki. Don't waste your money, the prices are too high." Franky informed her, walking into the store.

"Franky! What are you doing here?" Kuki asked, turning to greet him. She focused a bit and smiled, seeing the line connecting them together, another new friend. "I sell some of my inventions here for cheap money." He explains, placing a large gun down on the countertop. "Tch, ruined my sale you big oaf." The man grumbled, knowing that he had lost the girl and she wasn't going to buy the gloves. "Oh, then did you make those?" Kuki wondered, pointing at the pair of gloves excitedly. The old man handed Franky some money and sulked into the back with his new item. The cyborg raised his glasses and looked at the gloves, smiling. "Yup, aren't they just Super!" he asked, recalling their creation.

"Ya, they're amazing! Do you think….you could make a pair like that for me?" she asked, hopeful. Franky let his glasses fall back again as he looked the girl in the face. "Sure, for a price." He said evilly. Kuki raised an eyebrow at the cyborg, knowing he was up to something. "I have 50,000 Berri here…" she offered, holding up her money. Franky shook his head and grinned. "Hm, how about a kiss from the beautiful Onee-San?" he asked, leaning back onto the counter. Kuki's face dropped, "Stop joking around I'm serious." She laughed, hitting him playfully. "And who said I am?" Franky laughed, still looking at the girl threw his hidden sunglasses. "Hm…well let's see how good they turn out." Kuki teased, walking over to the door to leave. The cyborg's smile grew, "They'll be Super, and a Super weapon gets a Super kiss!" he yelled, doing his signature pose as Kuki left the store.

After the door shut she shook her head smiling, Franky was one funny character and she was going to miss him once the boat was done and they all sailed away. Luffy had told Kuki that they needed a shipwright and had asked her how good she was at fixing a boat, obviously she knew nothing about it, making Luffy upset for a bit. "I know! You'll be our Helmsman!" he had told her, all excited to have come up with a job for her, "Your wind would help you a lot in that job right?" Thinking back to that had made Kuki laugh a bit, her new captain was such a ditz, but he was an amazing captain. "So why doesn't Luffy ask Franky to be the shipwright? He's already building the boat…"


	14. Chapter 14

"…bounties?" Kuki asked, sitting in the dinning area with the rest of the Straw Hat crew. She was wearing some of her new clothes, a black, 'V' neck t-shirt with a pair of blue jean shorts. Kokoro nodded, placing all eight pieces of paper down on the table with her usual grinning, drunken face, "You guys just took down one of the three World Government strong holds, all of you got one." Each individual froze when they saw their picture, everyone except Luffy, Zoro and Robin, who were all used to theirs. "Yahoo! Mine went up!" the captain yelled, celebrating his new bounty amount of 300 million Berris. "So did mine." Zoro smirked reasonably proud of his 120 million Berri amount. Robin smiled at her 80 million berri poster and turned to walk away. "They said they were part of the news!" Nami cried, holding up her bounty page that held a very revealing picture of her in a bikini, and also had 16 million Berris written underneath it.

"Why is mine the only one hand drawn!" Sanji asked, kneeling on the ground as he hit the cement floor with his fist. Kuki looked at the cook's, it looked like him if you added a hundred pounds and he gained a bounty of 77 million. "Stop complaining, I'm only worth 50 berris!" Chopper cried throwing the page away. "At least you look cute in the picture." Kuki tried to say, comforting the tiny doctor. Chopper wiped his eyes, "What does yours say?" She shrugged and picked it up off the table. Suddenly Kuki held it closer to her face, as if she had read it wrong. The picture looked as if it was taken while she was shopping with Nami and Robin, since she had on one of the blue dresses she bought, but that wasn't what she was shocked about, it was her bounty. "100 million?" she asked out loud, as if to get someone to prove her wrong.

"Wow, good job!" Luffy yelled, stretching his hand to snatch the paper away from her. "Look, it's Sogeking!" Chopper cheered, picking up Ussop's bounty page from the table, it read 30 million. "So our team's total bounty exceeds 700 million Berris." Robin stated, adding it up in her head. Luffy's and Chopper's eyes exploded into stars, "Wow! Awesome!" Kuki still was shocked, how could she have 100 million berris on her head? "Straw Hat!" a female voice yelled from behind the door. Suddenly Franky's two, girl followers busted into the room along with Chimney and her bunny. All four of them fell to the ground panting, as if they had been running for a long time. "What is it?" Luffy asked, snapping out of his 'starry' eyed daze. "Aniki told us to come and call everybody! The Dream ship is finished!" they yelled, obviously excited. "It's done already?" the captain asked, excited to finally see his new boat.

"Yosh then let's go!" Sanji added, not being able to wait much longer to see his kitchen. "Straw Hat-San!" another voice yelled from outside. The entire crew and captain walked outdoor, seeing the 50 member's of the Franky Family. "We need to talk with you!" they all yelled. "Alright but I'm going to head down towards the ship." Zoro added as he started walking around the group. "I'll come too, so you don't get lost." Sanji huffed, sticking both hands into his pockets. "Can I tag along?" Kuki asked, looking up at the cook. "Of course Kuki-Tan!" he swooned. She took the spot in between the two as Sanji and Kuki started their mission…keeping Zoro from getting lost.

"Have you seen the wanted posters?" Zambai wheezed, out of breath. Luffy tilted his head, "Ya, we just got them." The captain answered, not understanding where this conversation was going. "Have you seen this one?" he asked, pulling out a wanted poster for Franky, "44 million Berri…he can't stay here." Luffy tilted his head in the other direction, "Why not?" "Because, we can't save him a second time if he was taken again, so can you please make him your Nakama?" FF an hour "Where is everyone?" Iceburg asked, petting his mouse's head. Kuki sighed and sat down on the rubble known as Shipwreck Island. As soon as everyone got here they revealed the Dream Ship, and it was amazing! With a lawn for a deck, huge sails, indoor crows nest and large bedrooms, more then the Straw Hats could have hoped for.

But soon after, Luffy had thought of a crazy idea to force Franky to be part of the crew, leaving Kuki, Nami, and Robin here. "Some sort of plan to get Franky to join." She explained, still a little sad that she couldn't be part of it. Both of the other girls went inside the ship to set up their rooms. "Stay here and wait." Luffy had told her as him, Zoro, Sanji and Chopper rushed off. Suddenly a canon fired, shortly followed by an 'Ahhhhhhh!'. Kuki looked around to see where the scream was coming from, until it landed right in front of them…Franky…with his head stuck in the ground…pant less…Kuki's eyes widened as she took in the sight, she wondered two things, one; why Franky had nothing on, and two; why she couldn't close her eyes. "What's with this situation?" Iceburg asked, almost laughing. "Does…this happened often?" Kuki asked, wondering if having Franky as part of the crew was such a good idea. "Nope." The blue haired man answered, relieving her of some of the stress. 

Finally Franky pulled him self out of the mess, standing up. Luffy and Chopper had 'rocketed' themselves onto the brand new boat, and in her captain's hand was the cyborg's pants. "Franky!" Luffy yelled, hold the pants up higher, as well as making Franky turn towards them. Kuki shielded her eyes again, blushing uncontrollably. "Thanks for the ship! It's the best, we'll treasure it! If you want these pants back," the rubber man started, getting a devilish grin, "you'll become our Nakama!" Franky huffed, blowing out a little cloud of air, "Baka, don't think just because you have my pants I'll be your Nakama." The cyborg then did his signature pose in all of his naked glory, "Ow!" Kuki averted her eyes again, turning bright red in the face. "Why is this happening?" she asked herself, really wishing that she had gone on the ship instead of standing on the ground.

"I'm the kind of man that who, even naked, faces straight the countless waves as a lion!" Franky yelled, still in the same position. The town's people all screamed, "He decided to pose with his lower half exposed!" But none of it affected him, he just kept standing there like that. "I took him too lightly! How determined! He's a man inside a man!" Luffy gasped, as if he was against a great foe. "Not something to be proud about." Kuki mumbled, still shielding her eyes. "He's just a pervert!" Nami yelled, as both women walked out of the ship. Robin looked down at the cyborg, then back at her captain, "It may get a little ruff…may I lend a hand?" With a nod from Luffy, the Archaeologist crossed her arms in front of her body. "Dos Fleur!" she said, creating two arms coming out of Franky's thighs.

The man looked down in shock, breaking his pose. Franky could tell something bad was going to happen from the evil face Robin was wearing. "Grab." She finished, squeezing her hands into fist. Suddenly the half robot went into a frenzy of high pitched squeals, "No!" He fell to the ground from the pain, rolling back and forth as if it would help. "Ouch." Kuki mumbled, taking down her hand as she felt bad for the perverted robot. "They have been grabbed!" Luffy yelled, leaning over the side of the ship, "Robin I want him to still be a man when he joins the crew!" But the lady didn't show any signs of giving up, still holding her hands in the same position. "They'll be smashed Robin!" Chopper cried feeling some of Franky's pain from just watching. "Give me a good reason Cyborg-Chan." Robin chuckled evilly.

"I already told you, I can't leave this island." He whimpered, still in pain, "I'm very grateful towards you guys, but that's something I cannot do. That's why I gave you guys my dream…that ship you're on." Iceburg took a step towards his fellow apprentice. "That still hasn't become the dream ship you always talked about. What happened to 'my Dream ship will be a ship I created to make it to the end of this sea?'" he asked. "My wishes have changed." Franky countered, standing up. "You now, have finished all you work on this island. Everyone has forgiven you, so when will you forgive yourself?" the blue haired man asked again. The cyborg froze; did this mean that Iceburg had forgiven him? "You've helped this place so much, now you have to help yourself."

"Aniki, we've came to see you off!" the Franky Family yelled, launching a heavy looking, yellow bag towards him. Kuki looked up to see the object falling above her, without having time to react she held her arms over her head. "Kuki!" the crew yelled, everyone too far away to help her…everyone but Franky. Just as the duffle bag was about to crush Kuki the cyborg jumped, grabbing her and landing safely away from it. The small girl's whole body turned completely beat red as she froze underneath him. "Um…t…thanks for…s…saving me and all…b…but…can you…get off p…please?" she stuttered, as Franky just realized what had happened. He was naked laying onto of the girl he had just rescued. "My bad." He laughed, standing up. "You don't look so sorry!" Sanji yelled, running towards the group with Zoro. Both men looked like they were going to destroy him as they both witnessed the scene.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: I'd just like to say thank you to yyh-ygo-fma for all the reviews! Seriously, it's nice that you take the time to write a comment about every chapter 3 thanks! Oh and I was wondering if any drawers wanted to try and draw my OC I'd love to see it and I'll put them up somewhere… since my 'skills' only go as far as stick people…**

**Kuki: When is Franky getting his pants back? **

**Author: You'll have to wait and see ^^ **

"Guys, stop!" Kuki yelled, jumping in between the tree males, all of which were trying to fight. "But you saw what he did to you Kuki-Tan!" Sanji whimpered, pointing at the cyborg like an angry child. "Who cares, it was an accident and we shouldn't be fighting with our Nakama!" she yelled back, making Sanji stop. None of the crew had ever seen Kuki act like this, all serious and commanding. "Ha she must have not cared that bad." Franky laughed sticking his tongue out at the two. The girl turned and glared at the half robot, wiping that smile off with the intensity of her eyes. "You're going to be our shipwright…right?" she forced, still glaring up at the scared man. "…ya sure…" he mumbled back, sweat dropping from his brow. "Good now go get your pants and get on the boat." Kuki ordered, slowly calming back down.

Zoro smirked, liking this side of her; it made her seem strong and capable. Sanji clasped his hands and swayed back and forth "Kuki-Tan, you're so cute when you're angry!" he yelled at her. The blush staining her cheeks signalled to everyone that she was back to her original self. "Oh, and Garp is trying to find us to fight…" the swordsman stated, finally remembering what Sanji and himself were running for. "What!" FF to when they're escape from Garp More canon balls descended from the sky, crashing down all around their new ship. "We need to get out of here!" Kuki yelled, aiming at another canon to blow it away. "Wait, Ussop came, he's calling out to us!" Chopper yelled, trying to get Luffy's attention. "I didn't hear anything…" the captain pretended, not being able to forgive his old sharpshooter until he said sorry.

The doctor's eyes started water as he leaned over the edge towards his friend still on shore. "I'm sorry!" Ussop's voice reached out towards his Nakama, "I'm sorry for my stubbornness! I was wrong!" Luffy pushed down his hat, covering his face as he flew out his arm towards Ussop, offering it to him. "Grab on Baka." The captain said his voice strained as if he was going to cry. In an instant Ussop was flying in the air towards everyone, huge globs of tears running down his face. "Luffy!" the sharpshooter yelled still flying threw the air. "You Baka!" the captain screamed looking up finally. Everyone saw his face; he had been crying so much that his nose started to drip. Ussop crashed into Luffy, sending them both to the ground as they were still weeping uncontrollably. The entire crew started smiling, as well as Chopper who jumped on his friends on the ground and joined them in crying himself.

Zoro, Kuki, Sanji, Franky, and Robin all worked on keeping the heavy cannon balls from damaging anything. Vice-Admiral threw one after another, not stopping to give any of the crew members a break. "Even though it's his grandson, Garp doesn't show any mercy." Helmeppo sighed, secretly hoping the Straw Hats would escape safely. "Tie up the sails!" Franky ordered, shooting down more canon balls. Kuki turned towards him, "Why, they'll catch up to us?" The cyborg left the group and headed towards the steering, "Just trust me!" With that the swordsman started climbing to the main sail, tying it up securely. "Hurry! Furl the sails!" Luffy yelled up at his first mate, even though he didn't know what was going on. "Oi, are you really sure about this?" Zoro called down, finishing with the sails. "Baka! You gotta trust this ship!" Franky answer joining Luffy, Chopper and Ussop as they all held each other's shoulder, doing an awkward dance. "That's right, Baka!" the other three of them yelled.

"Tch, leaving the cook with all the work." Sanji mumbled, kicking away another heavy, metal ball. "Um, I'm still here…"Kuki said, sending jets of air at the oncoming cannon balls. "Kuki-Tan, you don't have to help me!" he yelled, throwing his hands towards the sky as he swayed. 'I shouldn't have said anything.' Kuki told her self, because now Sanji had temporarily stopped protecting the boat, leaving it all up to her. "Franky, all the sails are furled hurry up or the battleship will catch up." Robin informed the cyborg. "Not yet, we haven't named the ship." He said, looking up at the sail. Ussop's eyes flew out of his head, "The ships name? At a time like this?" Franky nodded his head, "That's right; a ship without a name is no good at sailing." Everyone stopped, trying to think of a good name quick. Kuki was horrible at names so she just continued with protecting, along with Sanji, who had stopped his love-craziness.

"It should have Lion in it." Robin offered, pointing to the head of the ship, which was a Loin. "Yosh! I thought of a great name! The Polar Bear Lion!" Luffy yelled, holding up his hand as if he was in a class. "That's such a weird name for a ship!" Ussop informed him, hitting his head. "Then, Tiger Wolf Lion!" the captain tried again. "Stop that animal enumeration!" the sharpshooter screamed, hitting the captain a second time. "Squid Octopus Chimpanzee!" Luffy offered, once again. "That's even worse!" As Ussop and Luffy continued that the rest of the crew ignored them. "Ya lion would be good, but the guys in Galley-La didn't get it. Iceburg offered me a name, 'Thousand Sunny'!" Franky said, smiling. "Wow!" Luffy and Chopper yelled together, "What a cool name!" Kuki heard it and thought it sounded nice. "It's a lot better then the 'Lion Master' name I came up with." Zoro stated, nodding his head as if he approved. "Better then my 'Being Of Darkness'…" Robin added.

"And my 'Monsieur Sunflower." Sanji smiled, agreeing with that name choice. "Have you all lost your minds!" Ussop asked as he heard the name they all came up with. "Wait up guys-" Franky tried to add, but got cut off. "Then that's that!" Nami said smiling at the name. "The certain name for it is the one I have prepared-" he tried again, but failed. "Let's go with the Ice-Ossan's name, I like it!" Chopper stated. "The New Battle Franky Lion Gang Champion!" the cyborg finally said, offering the name he thought of. "Agreed!" the crew yelled, taking 'Thousand Sunny'. Franky fell to the ground depressed, circling his finger around on the deck. Kuki walked over and patted the cyborg on the back, secretly happy that they didn't choose his name. "Are you going to show us your 'secret weapon'?" she asked, hoping they could get away from the battleship soon.

Franky jumped up, just remembering that they were still under attack. "Take one more look at Water 7, in a matter of moments you won't be able to see it!" he smiled before he disappeared down to the basement of their ship. "Grandpa…Colby and…I'm glad I got to see you!" Luffy screamed as loud as he could to the other boat. "Say my name too!" Helmeppo yelled back angry that he had forgotten his name. "What are you talking about Luffy? There are still many cannon balls left." Garp muttered under his breath, picking up another one of the heavy ball to chuck it at the ship. Luffy waited till the cannon ball was right in front of him before he just back handed it, as if the cannon ball was a fly. "I hop we meet again some day!" the captain laughed, waving goodbye to his grandpa. "You're the son of my son and you think you can underestimate me this way?" the Vice-Admiral yelled, getting angry.

Suddenly, in all of Garp's rage he brought out one of his greatest weapons…a huge cannon ball, almost the size of his entire battle ship. It had a chain attached to it so the Vice-Admiral could throw it easier. The smoke in Sanji's mouth fell, "What is that?" he asked. The entire crew turned and looked. "We'll die! There is no way to get away from that, it's bigger then the ship…and the sails aren't even down!" Ussop yelled, running in circles. "Don't underestimate me!" Garp yelled, chucking the massive iron ball at them. "Franky, you might want to hurry up." Kuki called down to him, not able to take her eyes off of it. The circular mass of black iron was now above them, casting a dark shadow over everything. Zoro's eyes widened. "You can't cut threw that can you…" Kuki asked, still watching it descend on them. "I can try." He mumbled, pulling out his swords. Just as the Iron ball was about to touch the tip of their mast… "Coup De Burst!"

And the ship launched into the air, just escaping the crushing mass of that huge cannon ball. Kuki was knockdown with the force of the ship, she desperately held onto the railing. She knew it was coming, the 'stomach's now in your throat' feeling. She could handle insects, needles, storms, but when it came to heights and falling she was out. "Awesome!" Luffy yelled, with a smile on his face. 'How are they enjoying this?' Kuki asked her self. "This ship can do anything that the 'Going Merry' did and in some ways better, but his spirit lives threw 'Thousand Sunny'." Franky explained, casually walking up from the basement as the ship kept getting higher and higher. "Kuki-Tan, are you alright?" Sanji asked, looking at the tiny girl on the ground that had latched herself to a railing post. "You guys are all crazy." She whimpered, seeing them just standing and acting normal. "Starting today, this is our ship!" the cyborg celebrated.

"Ah!" Kuki screamed as the ship started its descend back into the ocean. Tears flew from her eyes as her body was lifted from the speed of falling. The only thing keeping her to the boat was her arms wrapped around the railing. Thankfully she wasn't the only one yelling. Finally it landed, but Kuki still waited a minute until she unwrapped herself. "Oi, Kuki!" Franky yelled. She stood and saw him waving her over to the 'lawn' part of the deck. "I got a Super surprise for you!" he laughed holding onto a box. Kuki suspiciously walked over and took the box, opening it and smiled. "Franky! You actually made them!" she asked, picking up one of the brand new gloves. They looked a little different from the ones in the store, with a Velcro strap at the end, the metal piece at the knuckles ran longer down to the wrist, and they were made from leather. "There's more metal on it so you can load more then one metal piece in each knuckle, and here are 200 pieces." He explained lifting his glasses up to get a better glimpse at her smile while handing her a container filled with the ammunition. "They're amazing thanks!" Kuki said hugging the cyborg. "So what about my super kiss?"


	16. Chapter 16

"So what about my Super kiss?" he asked, still having his glasses raised as he smirked down at the girl. She stopped, and raised an eyebrow at him, "You were serious about that?" Franky let his glasses fall back down and leaned against the mast. "How old are you?" he asked her. This made Kuki do a double take, rethinking the words over in her head twice before she understood them. "Eighteen…" she answered slowly, not sure of why he wanted to know. "Hm not that bad, just a sixteen year difference." The cyborg laughed, still leaning against the mast. "Wait, you're thirty-four!" she said shocked, "That's so perverted! I'm only eighteen!" Franky's face turned grim, "Are you calling me a pervert?" "Yes!" she answered. "Aw, well when you put it that way." "It's not a compliment!"

After a minute they both calmed down, but Franky looked as if he was enjoying this. "Well do you want the gloves or not?" he asked, giving her a choice. Kuki looked down at them; the gloves looked so awesome… "Well ya...but…" she started to mumble, not wanting her first kiss to go to waste. "Cyborg-Kun wasn't what happened back on shore enough for those?" Robin asked, walking in on the conversation. Kuki's cheeks turned red instantly after the older woman said that, reminding her of what had happened when Franky had tried to save her. "…I guess ya…" he sighed, defeated. "Thanks Robin-Chan." Kuki whispered. The archeologist just smiled and walked off, leaving her to try out her new weapon. "Oi, what's that?" Zoro asked, looking at the box in her arms. Kuki held up one glove to show him, "A weapon Franky made for me. I can't wait to try them!" she explained, excited.

The swordsman raised his eyebrow and smirked, "Gloves are weapons now?" he joked, patting his three sword handles, one which was basically just a handle of a sword. Kuki stuck out her tongue and pulled one glove on, trying to prove him wrong. She pointed her knuckles at the mast and squeezed…then four pieces of thin, sharp, metal flopped out of the dispenser landing not even a foot in front of her, pathetic. Zoro couldn't even keep in a chuckle, as he laughed at her attempt. "Oi, you got it all wrong! Use your wind Onee-San!" Franky yelled from the top deck. Kuki gave the cyborg a puzzled look then shrugged, why not? After carefully placing the metal pieces on the floor back into their slots she raised her hand again. Instead of using her traditional aiming system, making a triangle with her hands, she had to just try and aim down her hand, using her knuckles as sights. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" Kuki yelled, squeezing her hand at the same time.

This sent the metal pieces slicing threw the mast and into the ocean on the other side, never to be seen again. Both she and the swordsman froze. "That is so…cool!" she yelled, jumping up and down. Zoro had to blink a few times to fully understand what had happened. "Oh, and don't forget the safety lock on the side so you don't accidently kill someone." Franky mumbled, getting up to fix the mast. Why did she have to aim at the ship? With a quick flip, both gloves were on their 'safety' and on her hands. "Hey everyone, come here!" the captain yelled, ushering his crew to come around a big picnic table, that no doubt Sanji set up, for lunch. "For the return of Robin and Ussop and our new Nakama Franky, Kuki and Thousand Sunny! Kanpai!" Luffy yelled, thrusting his tankard up in the air. "Kanpai!" the Straw Hat said in return, hitting all of their cups together. Kuki chugged back her drink, still not used to the burning in the back of her mouth.

FF half an hour "This is paradise!" Nami sighed, walking into the bathing area. "I can't believe there's a bath this big on a ship." Kuki added. It looked as if twenty people could have fit in here easily. The steam caressed her skin, she hadn't been to a bath this great in her entire life and now it was for her regular use. "I'll wash your back if you wash mine!" Nami laughed, dropping the towel and getting her self a stool. "Alright." Kuki smiled dropping her towel in the corner as well. "I hope none of the guys come in…" Kuki said, glancing back to the door. "Remember what Franky said? As long as you put the tab on the door we'll be fine." Nami reassured her, sitting down on the stool as Kuki gently scrubbed at her back. Kuki nodded, thinking back to the 'male' and 'female' door tabs he had shown everyone. The navigator had put up the female one so they would be fine.

"So, what is your dream?" Nami asked Kuki. The tiny girl stopped scrubbing as she thought, "I don't understand." Nami picked up her bowl of water and spilt it down her back, washing off all the suds. "Your turn…and I mean your dream. Mine is to make a map of the world." The orange haired women said, with so much excitement in her voice it almost made Kuki jealous. "I don't really have a dream." The blonde laughed, sitting down on the stool as Nami washed her back. "Everyone has a dream, sometimes it just takes a little longer to figure them out." Other Crew POV "I got it, I caught a cool shark!" Luffy yelled, reeling in a shark with horns. "Put it in the tank, put it in the tank, put it in the tank." Ussop and Chopper chanted, watching as their captain opened the metal latch to the aquarium. Were all the other types of fish they caught had gone. After stomping on the shark to get it in there they all closed the door and ran to the 'viewing' room, where they could 'view' all of their catches.

"Oh, another one came in, a shark this time." Robin said, watching as the shark entered the aquarium. "Isn't this room just super?" Franky asked, sitting on the couch that wrapped entirely around the circular room, only breaking where the door was. In the middle of the huge space, was a thick post, which connected to the kitchen and went to the very top level of the ship. It had a hollow middle for Sanji to send drinks or food to any room. "Tch, those Bakas. Don't they know Sharks eat other fish?" the cook wondered, waiting for all three of them to come racing into the room. "Oi, did our shark come in?" Luffy asked, slamming the door open. "Yes it did, but all the fish you've caught so far are gone." Robin answered, taking a sip of her coffee. "What!" they all yelled, seeing the shark swallow the last fish. "Turn this bastard into dinner!" the captain ordered, pointing at the shark threw the glass.

Kuki had just finished with her bath, she felt clean and happy. She threw on a cute, purple sweater with bunny ears added to the top, a black, pleated skirt, knee-high purple socks and her sneakers. There was a place on the ship she wanted to go to, as a little test to herself…the crows nest. FF to inside the Crows Nest "Baka, now how are you going to get back?" she asked her self, looking out the window. When she had climbed up the mast everything was good, she was so proud of herself. Then, after half an hour of resting, Kuki wanted down. Now climbing up to a high place is a lot easier then going back down, because while you're going up you don't have to look at the distance between you and solid ground, but that was the exact opposite with heading back to the deck. Kuki had now been up in this godforsaken place for hours, she started to wonder if anybody was looking for her. "I'll try when it's dark, so I won't see how high up I am." She reasoned with herself.

"Oi, what are you doing up here?" Zoro asked, shutting the hatch. Coming into this place felt like a tree house. "I…um… wanted to see the beautiful sights." Kuki lied, trying to not seem pathetic in front of the swordsman. "You missed dinner." He stated, sitting down at the window next to hers. Kuki's mouth watered, she could almost taste Sanji's cooking. "I'm…ugh…not hungry." She smiled, moments later having her stomach rumble. Zoro smirked, raising an eyebrow at her. 'Shit, I've been found out. Mayday, mayday.' She thought in her head, staring at the swordsman's face. "Oh really?" he asked, placing his head on the open palm of his hand. Kuki sighed, knowing that there was no reason to lie anymore, he probably already knew, "Ok, I'm really afraid of heights and I wanted to prove to myself I could get up here but once I did I realized it's a lot scarier coming back down so I'm stuck."

Zoro laughed into his hand at the poor girl. "Hey, I'm serious." She whimpered, hugging her knees as she thought of how pathetic she looked right now. The swordsman looked at her and then snapped his head away, 'did she realize that she was wearing a skirt?' he thought, making his face go red since he could she her panties. But Kuki didn't seem to notice, she just thought he was still laughing into his hand. Sweat started dripping down his face as he didn't know what to do. "Can…you help me down?" Kuki asked sadly, seeing as her whole reason for coming up here was now ruined. "I…ugh…" the swordsman tried to say, but the words escaped him. All he could think of was how he just saw Kuki's panties, 'Am…I a pervert?' he wondered, thinking back to all the times he has been in this type of situation with this girl. "Zoro-kun…are you ok?" the tiny, blonde asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Ya…sure." He finally answered, getting control of himself. Kuki's stomach rumbled again, begging for food. "Can we go now?" she asked, standing up and holding her stomach as if that would calm it down. Zoro nodded and kneeled down, allowed Kuki to go on his back, which eerily reminded him of the first time they met. "Hold on tight ok?" the swordsman warned, opening the hatch on the ground. "I will." Kuki answered, resting her head on his shoulder as he started to climb down the ropes. The wind played with Kuki's hair and skirt, fluttering it back and forth. Zoro tried hard to not make any sudden movement or go to fast, too make sure Kuki wouldn't get scared. If she was by herself she would have had a heart attack, but for some reason, here close to Zoro, she was perfectly fine, not even the height frightened her. The heat radiating off his body invited her closer. 'Don't think about it, don't think about it." Zoro was telling himself as he tried to focus on the ropes and getting down. But the fact that Kuki was squishing up against his back and that he could feel her chest perfectly kept trying to invade his thoughts, and currently they were winning.


	17. Chapter 17

**Author's note: As you are going to tell, I changed this part of the story. I didn't want the 'bounty hunter family' part before the 'Thriller Bark Arc' so I made up something. But I will still be doing the Thriller Bark stuff after. I hope you enjoy! Oh and reviewing will really make me want to write chapters faster (wink, wink stomp on the foot) :D enjoy!**

"Since yesterday, there has been a sudden drop in temperature…" Nami mumbled, looking up at the sky as she looked out the window. Kuki sat up, immediately regretting it as the cold seeped down threw her blankets. "What?" she asked, pulling covers up to her shoulders. "We're probably heading towards a cold island." The navigator answered, starting to get dressed. Kuki looked out the window, condensation had already found its way to the glass. "But didn't Kokoro say that we had to go threw that triangle thingy before we got to the next island?" she asked, finally retreating out of her bed. "Hm, that is true. Maybe it's just a winter spot." Nami shrugged, walking out leaving Kuki alone. The blonde walked to her bag, unzipping it to pull out some warm clothes, a black, winter jacket, with brown furry lining around hood, a pair of blue jeans, and black, furry boots with tiny pompom balls attached to them.

After pulling on her new gloves, both of which were on safety, she stepped outside. 'Snow' she thought, holding out a hand to catch one of the soft, puffy snowflakes. "Snow!" Luffy yelled, running out of the kitchen followed shortly by the doctor and sharpshooter, "Oi, Zoro, you're a bad lookout! You're supposed to tell us when there is snow!" the captain added, pointing up at the crows nest where the swordsman was. Chopper gazed out at the sky, watching the flakes swirl around in the wind. "I hope it stays!" he said, so excited for the cold. Kuki looked up to the top of the mast, remembering last night. "Kuki-Tan! Breakfast!" Sanji yelled, pulling her gaze away from the crows nest. The cook ran up and kneeled in front of her, grabbing one of her, almost numb, hands. "My Angel, your cheeks are rosy from the cold, shall I bring you to the warmth of my kitchen?" he asked, acting like a knight in shining armor.

Kuki hadn't noticed it, but she was getting chilly. "Sure Sanji-Kun that would be nice." She nodded. With hearts as eyes, the cook picked up the tiny girl, bridal style, as he trotted off towards his kitchen. "What are you doing?" the blue-eyed girl asked, holding onto his neck as they walked. "A Goddess, such as you, shouldn't have to walk." Zoro looked down to the deck, seeing the 'love-cook' carry Kuki off into the ship. Why did that bug him so much? Why did he feel the need to run down there and pull her out of his arms? Why did it feel so wrong to see her in the arms of another man? The swordsman had to give his head a shake to get back to his normal train of thought, when all of a sudden the panties situation crept into his mind again. The pink lacey underwear, why couldn't he push them out of his mind? "I am a pervert…" Zoro mumbled, turning away from the window as he glared down at his feet.

"Icebergs!" The swordsman warned, just noticing as they were in front of them. Kuki ran out of the kitchen, just to see massive block of ice surrounding them. "Shit." She said jumping from the railing to the lower deck and then racing to the steering wheel, she was the helmsman after all. "Oi, Marimo-head, what where you doing, sleeping?" Sanji yelled up, mad at the fact that Zoro hadn't told them sooner. With a quick turn of the wheel, the boat started to head in the other direction, but not quick enough. Kuki kept rotating the steering, trying hard to get the ship away from danger. Finally, Thousand Sunny, was out of harms way, lightly scraping the side of the ice. Just as Kuki felt like they were home free more, large Icebergs surrounded them from all sides. "Nami!" she yelled out, needing help on which way she should go. The navigator walked out of the 'viewing' room and froze, looking in all directions for escape.

"There all around us!" she yelled, spinning in circles as she viewed the ice blocks. "What should I do?" Kuki asked franticly, desperately trying to get an answer out of Nami before the Icebergs got too close. "I don't know there's no space for Thousand Sunny in between any of them!" the navigator cried, freaking out as the ice closed in. In a matter of seconds the Icebergs crashed together, creating a cage like circle around the Straw Hat's ship. "Furl the sails!" Kuki ordered, knowing they had no where to go. Sanji started to climb the ropes to reach the sail. "What is with these Icebergs?" she growled, glaring at each one as if they would back off. "Chill, Onee-San." Franky laughed, patting her head. With a deep breath Kuki calmed down, returning to her original self. "But you're right about something, these Icebergs seem to be moving on their own…" Robin added. Each member glanced at her; ice blocks couldn't move by themselves…they were ice.

"No, Robin's right. They were going against the water's currents." Nami mumbled, looking down at the ocean. "Thank you Navigator-Chan." The dark haired woman smiled. "Well, looks like we're stuck…" Sanji muttered, exhaling his smoke. The Straw Hat's all agreed, making Kuki slump down at the steering wheel. 'First real day on the job and I fail…' she told herself, looking up at the tied sail. FF to after dinner Kuki snuck off from the rest of the group, wanting to get in some bath time before she headed to sleep. The entire day so far made her depressed, if she had only done a better job they wouldn't have been stuck in this cage. She opened the door and was greeted by the warm, tendrils of steam brushing on her face. Quickly, Kuki closed the door behind her, not wanting any of this heat to leak outside to be wasted. As the day had stretched on, the temperature had dropped.

She slowly peeled off her layers, folding each piece of clothing before placing them into the very bottom basket. The steam had tripled from yesterday, because of the major differences of heat from the inside compared to the outdoors, making it hard to see even three feet in front of her eyes. All Kuki wanted to do was get into the bath, so she hurried in scrubbing her body, getting everywhere, but doing a fast job of it. After washing all of the soapy suds off, the blonde, finally stepped into the large tub. Slowly creeping to the very back. "Ah…" Kuki sighed, slipping deeper into the water as she sat down. She felt like she was in heaven, after all the cold, bitterness of today, this was the one thing she was looking forwards too. Suddenly, the bath's doors opened from the other side of the room. She froze, listening to the steps; they were way too heavy to be Robin's or Nami's.

'Oh no, oh no…I forgot to put on the tab!' Kuki screamed in her head, completely naked. Should she tell, whoever they were, that she was in here? No, that would be way too embarrassing, especially if it's Franky or Sanji. 'I'll just wait here until they leave and not make a noise…since the steams so thick they might not even notice me." Her mind decided, sliding deeper into the water so just her head was above. Kuki strained to listen, trying to figure out who it was. 'I hope it's Chopper…' she thought, knowing that would have been the easiest option. Apparently the mystery person had finished undressing, since they had walked closer to the washing area. "Stupid love-cook spilling his food all over me." A voice mumbled. 'Oh no." Kuki's eyes almost exploded. Out of everyone… everyone on this ship, it had to be the swordsman. She wanted to die, right here and now.

Zoro entered the bath after washing himself, walking closer to where Kuki was. 'No.' she thought sinking in further to the bath water. Thankfully his steps stopped as he sat down about ten feet away from her. Kuki's face burned the brightest, flaming red as she realized that right now she was sharing a bath with the swordsman and they were both naked. 'Maybe if I try to get out and walk around the bath I can leave…' Kuki wondered, rising out of the water, but as she did water droplets fell, creating little splashes of noise, the poor girl froze. "Who's there? If it's you Baka cook…" Zoro's voice carried over. He stood up and started taking step after agonizing step in the girl's direction. Kuki swallowed as she could see the outline of his figure coming closer, she was standing now and the water only came up to her belly button, instinctually she tried to cover her breasts with her arms. As soon as she could see the green haired man she was right in front of her, no more then three feet away.

He paused, looking down at her before, he too, turned red. "W…what…" Zoro tried to ask, shocked to see her here. "I…um forgot…" she too, tried to answer, not doing a great job at covering her self. Then, all of a sudden, she noticed the man, really noticed him. The dark tone of his skin, the way it glistened as water dripped down his shoulders and chest. How the water just stopped at his lower stomach, leaving little to her imagination. The way the little strands of his unique hair fell against his forehead in a messy design. She had the impulse to reach out and trace the outlines of his muscles, to see how the skin felt around his scar. Kuki just desperately needed to be closer to him, and before she could stop herself she reached out to touch the swordsman. Just with her pointer finger, Kuki ran it across the long, jagged line from his shoulder down, sending millions of, visible, shivers down Zoro's body.

He had been craving her touch for so long, and to finally have it...was ecstasy. Kuki took a step closer to him, running, with her hand now, across his shoulders, going over every dent, line and mark, as if she committed it all to memory. Feeling as if it was ok, Zoro swiped fallen strands of hair away from her face. Kuki leaned into the touch, needing more. His thumb traveled from her cheek down to her chin, lifting it up to face him directly. Using both hands now, she started going over Zoro's chest, feeling how the muscle felt underneath his tanned skin. The swordsman placed his other hand behind her neck, tilting her head as he gazed at her lips. 'This is it, my first kiss." Kuki thought, closing her eyes as Zoro's face came closer to hers. She felt the heat of his breath on her face, caressing it. Then…the door flew open.


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: This isn't my favorite chapter, more of a filler, sorry but I promise the nest one will be great :D thanks for reading and remember the more reviews the less wait time ;D**

Kuki starred up out the window, the snow had settled and coated the deck outside in a blanket of white. She crossed her arms over her chest, thinking back to the bath, what had she done? What did Zoro think of her now? "You're so dumb…" she whispered to herself. Kuki had been so forward, and now she could only talk down to herself. When the door had slammed open, it had knocked Kuki and the swordsman out of their daze. Thankfully it was just the wind, which had picked up, that had flung the door open. Before Zoro could say anything she had ran out of the tub, threw on her clothes and disappeared out into the night. Leaving the green haired man behind to figure out what had just happened. Her eyes started watering, making the world seem blurry and distorted. 'Sleep.' Her mind offered, giving her a way to escape her pain momentarily. With a wipe of the face she laid down, pulling her covers.

"Kuki?" Nami's voice asked, bouncing in the inside walls of the tiny girl's head. The blonde started mumbling and turned over, stuffing her face into her pillow. "Wake up, it's almost breakfast." The navigator laughed, pulling Kuki's blanket off. The helmsman jumped of her bed, now cold. "Yeesh, fine…I'll be out after I'm ready." Kuki answered, pulling out clothes from her bag. Nami smiled and closed the door behind her, leaving her alone with her thoughts again. 'How am I ever going to be able to look at him again?' she thought, images of Zoro popping up in her mind. Kuki grabbed a lightning blue, winter coat with black fur positioned on the hood to look like cat ears, a black tank top, with her pleated, black skirt, same blue color, leggings and her gloves. Kuki pulled her hair into, two, low ponytails underneath both of her ears. After stuffing her feet into her sneakers, she headed into the outdoors. Her stomach growled in defiance, following it's lead to the kitchen.

"Onee-San, someone's looking good today." The 34 year old cyborg flirted. Kuki's face blushed, as she stuck out her tongue towards him, "Pervert Robot." She laughed smiling up at him. "Is the Neko blushing?" Franky asked, pushing up his glasses again. How could he only be wearing a jacket and a Speedo? "I'm getting food; don't freeze your lower half!" Kuki teased, walking away towards the door. "Kuki-Tan, you look so cute!" Sanji swooned, placing a fresh, hot plate of waffles in front of her. She smiled at the cook, thanking him for the food as she started to eat. "What are we going to do?" Nami asked, walking into the kitchen along with Franky. Now everyone was in the dining room, everyone but the swordsman. "What do you mean?" Luffy asked, stuffing bacon into his mouth. "How we are supposed to get out of here." Robin cleared up, sipping from her hot coffee.

"Well, there's obviously something up with the Icebergs. I just wish I could see what is going on under the water." Kuki sighed, swirling her fork around her plate. Franky smiled at her, "I guess it's time to show you guys the best part of this ship." The straw Hat's all looked over at one of their newest members, waiting for him to explain. "The Soldier Dock System, you said you wanted to go under the water right?" the cyborg asked, making his question towards Kuki. She looked up, having her hood almost cover all of her face. "Cute…" Sanji mumbled, just wanting to go over and cuddle the tiny girl. Franky grabbed the blonde girl's hand, towing her back outside. Everyone followed, wondering what the cyborg was up to. Franky brought Kuki into the very bottom of Thousand Sunny climbing down the ladder, pointing at a large, blue contraption in one of the 'Channel' rooms. Water had collected at the bottom of the docking place, just like every other channel, and a large number three was on the door.

"Wow!" she yelled, so excited she ran over to unlock the top latch so she could get in, "Our own submarine!" Everyone watched as the tiny girl dropped into the blue, shark-shaped machine. "Tch, Sanji. Go up and turn the helm to number three, then pull the lever." The cyborg ordered before jumping into the shark as well, closing the hatch after him. "This is so cool!" the blonde said, looking at every button, lever, and light. "Everything I make is super!" he smirked, complimenting himself. Suddenly, the door with the number three on it opened, allowing the Shark Submerge to go into the ocean. The mouth of the 'shark' was open, having a glass sheet working like a windshield. "Ready?" he asked, smirking evilly as he turned the submarine on. Kuki sat down and smiled widely, nodding her head as she gripped the edge of her seat. "Alright, let's go!" Franky called out, making the Shark Submerge fall into the ocean.

"This is awesome! I haven't been under water without almost dying since I was three!" Kuki mumbled, almost squishing her head against the glass as fish and other sea life passed by. Franky chuckled; steering towards the closest wall of the Iceberg circle that had kept the Straw Hat's where they were. "Glad you like it." The cyborg said, dipping down further to get to the bottom of the ice. Deeper and deeper the metal shark went, and still there was no sign of the bottom. "It's getting pretty dark…" Kuki mumbled, sitting awkwardly on her seat. For some reason she found being in a small space with Franky weird, but had no problem being close to Zoro last night. The cyborg flicked a switch, turning on light in the cabin so they could see. "It…looks like it goes all the way to the ocean floor…" the cyborg mumbled. How could an Iceberg go down that far? "Wait, there's a tunnel right there!" Kuki said, pointing in front of them. Sure enough there was a small, circular entrance into the ice.

Franky steered the submarine to enter the passage way, creeping around the turns slowly so they did not damage the metal shark. "This is so…strange. This ice doesn't look like a normal Iceberg would. It's so polished and clear…" the blonde girl added, looking around at the crystal like frozen water, "And this passage way…it is way to clean cut to not be man made…" The cyborg nodded in agreement, focusing too much on his navigation to talk. "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji's voice called out from somewhere in the cabin. Frightening the tiny girl so bad she fell off her chair. "Sanji…?" she asked, looking around the open area, trying to see where he was. "The cook's talking threw the Den Den Mushi." Franky smirked, laughing on the inside at Kuki's earlier confusion. She stuck out her tongue in his direction and picked up the phone off the snail's shell. "Hello?" _"Kuki-Tan, I thought something horrible happened since you didn't answer right away!" _

The girl sighed, "No Sanji I'm fine, what's wrong?" _"There's another large Iceberg off in the distance, it's slowly coming towards the circle. It's big enough to be some sort of Ice Island…"_ Kuki was surprised by two things, the supposed 'island' of ice heading their way and the seriousness of the cook's voice. "Well Franky and I entered tunnels that lead into the icebergs so currently we're inside them." _"Ok, be safe my beloved Kuki-Tan! I'll call you back when the island gets closer!" _With a click, the tiny girl, hung up, more confused then when the icebergs had first showed up. All of a sudden everything around them started rumbling, shaking the submarine a bit. "What's that?" Kuki asked frantically, holding onto the wall for support. "Look threw the telescope." Franky ordered as the shaking continued. The blonde ran to the back, bringing down the eye scope as she peered threw it. Looking behind the Shark Submerge, Kuki saw a rush of air pressure behind them, shooting threw the tunnels, racing towards the submarine. "It's like a jet of air pressure! Shit we're going to die if it catches us!"

Franky stepped on the gas, winding his way against turns, ups and downs. Trying to escape what ever was behind them. Suddenly the jet hit the back end of the Submarine, pushing it straight up along with the tunnel, making Franky and Kuki fall to the back of the metal shark. Kuki had tried to hold onto the floor as the submarine was facing straight up, but after a minute she lost her grip, sending her falling into the cyborg that had caught her. "We're going to be shot out of the top of this Iceberg." She cried out, shutting her eyes, again with the heights. Franky put a protective arm around her just as the submarine busted threw the top, flying into the air, then moments later, falling back down onto the ice. With a loud thud, the 'new' submarine landed, making Kuki smash her hip into the metal flooring. Slowly the blonde girl opened her eyes, looking out the mouth of the shark; a figure was walking towards them on the ice.

"Ugh…Franky-Kun there's…someone out there…" Kuki mumbled, trying to sit up as she adjusted to the pain. Franky tried to stand as well; he had gotten most of the injuries and a cut on the leg. "Oi, the first catch of the day!" the unknown person said from outside. The figure climbed to the top of the ship, doing something to the hatch. After a few seconds the small, circular door turned red, melting the metal together leaving no escape or way out. Kuki was just about to reach for it when the shipwright stopped her. "It'll burn your hand…oi, let us out!" Franky screamed, pounding on the walls. They heard a chuckle from outside and then, for some reason they started to float. "What is going on?" Kuki asked, watching as the Shark got higher and higher off the ground. "Tch, seems like we're caught…" he answered, sitting back down his chair. The girl soon followed him and sat down as well. "Oh great…" she mumbled, realizing where this person was taking them…the 'Ice Island'.


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Note: Hey! Hope you're enjoying my story so far! Just wanted to say thank you from everyone who left me a review, and that I would still love it if people wanted to draw my OC, maybe just by herself or in any of the situations I've put her threw xD. I'll find a place to put each picture Thank you for listening to my ramblings, enjoy the chapter.**

"I'm….f….freezing." Kuki shuddered, still trapped in the metal shark with Franky. After floating over to the 'Island' and entering a large, metal door leading inside the huge ice block. The submarine was dropped off on the ground. Looking out the 'shark's' mouth, the place looked like a mansion, except everything was made out of frozen water. "Isn't their anything you can do?" she asked, cuddling herself as her teeth shattered together. "No, the submarine won't turn on so I can't put on the heat… but you could try my fresh flame." The cyborg answered, pursing his lips together as he blew out a little flame of fire. Kuki lightly hit his arm, and then curled back into herself. With each breath mist could be seen, and her cheeks were numb and pink. "What's the point of kidnapping us and then just leaving us here to freeze?" Kuki asked, trying to see if anyone was around, "You know what, I'm sick of this. Franky can you break open a wall?"

The shipwright smirked and aimed at the glass instead. Opening up his left arm, showing four spaces for bullets to come out of, he shot at the glass, finally making it shatter and providing a place to walk threw. "Good job!" Kuki cheered, stretching as soon as she crawled out of the small space. "Let's look around; we need to find a way back to Thousand Sunny and the rest of the gang." Franky said, placing both hands behind his head as he started to walk around. "Aren't you cold?" she asked as they started their way down a large hall. "I'm a cyborg baby, I can handle thee type of things." He yelled, doing his traditional pose. Kuki glanced at him; sweat dropped, and then continued to walk. "This place is amazing…I hope Aokiji doesn't live here…" she nervously chuckled. "Nope, he doesn't Cutie-Chan." A voice answered from the other side of the hallway. Kuki strained her eyes to see and Franky was still in his pose.

There was a man, walking towards them only wearing a pair of black, cargo shorts…no shoes, no shirt nothing. He had white, shaggy hair, and lightly tanned skin. "I was just coming to let you guys out, saved me the hassle." The man added one hand in the pocket of his shorts and the other hanging limb, "Nice pose you got there, I've already picked out what position I'll freeze you in, and as for you…Cutie-Chan…I haven't made up my mind yet." Both of the Straw Hat's took offensive positions. "Who are you?" Kuki demanded, flicking off the safety on both gloves. "You shouldn't ask the name of another without offering yours first." He smirked, staring at the tiny girl. Kuki felt the need to hide from his gaze, to try and run away, but she held her ground, staring right back at him, "My names Akuma, Kuki." Franky looked from the girl, to the man and back. "And my name's Franky." The cyborg added. "Mine is Netsu, Hotto, and welcome to my drifting home of ice."

"You're the one who trapped our boat. Are you a devil fruit user?" Kuki asked another question, trying to figure out as much information a she could. "I am a devil fruit user, but not for what you think." Other Crew's POV "There's the Shark Submerge!" Chopper yelled, pointing in the air above the circle of ice surrounding them. Ropes were tied around the submarine, connecting it to a 'hot air balloon' like thing. A man stood on top of it, holding one of his hands underneath the 'balloon's' opening. "Who is that?" Robin asked, as the entire crew looked out towards their Nakama. "Doesn't matter, all that does is that he is kidnapping Kuki-Tan!" Sanji fumed his face red with anger as he looked like he was going to explode. "Franky's there, and Kuki-Chan is strong, they'll be able to take care of themselves for now." Nami said, patting the cook on the shoulder to calm him down.

"Of course Nami-Swan, you're so cute when you're right!" he swooned; swinging his arms and legs about. "How are we going to get there?" Zoro asked, commanding an answer. The hot air balloon was now descending into the 'Ice Island' suggesting that is where they needed to go. "We have to get on the Iceberg ring, so getting as close as we can with Thousand Sunny and then climbing up is probably the best option." Nami guessed, hoping that the 'Island' was close to the ring of ice. "Un-furl the sails!" Robin called out, agreeing with the navigators plans. With Nami at the helm, because both Kuki and Franky were gone, she turned the ship towards the iceberg the submarine had popped out of. "Alright, everyone understand what we're doing?"

Kuki's POV "Step away from us!" she yelled, aiming down her knuckles at the man. The tiny girl was panting from fear as she stood above Franky's unconscious body. Her eyes went down for a split second, just making sure the cyborg was still breathing, which he was. One moment Hotto was having a conversation with them and the next he had somehow knocked the cyborg down. Kuki was scared, but she couldn't show it. 'How do you expect to go against someone Franky didn't even have a chance against?' her mind reasoned with her. The hallway filled with the smell of burned flesh. 'When did he burn him?' Kuki asked, noticing that the smell had come down from her Nakama. Hotto took another step towards her and she took another offensive stance.

"Calm down Cutie-Chan, I have no reason to fight you." The white haired man smirked, still taking a step towards her and the body she was protecting. "I'm warning you, one more step and I'll shoot." Kuki said again, still looking down her sights to look at him. Hotto laughed and thought nothing of it, taking another step forward. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" she yelled, pressing down on her gloves to send little razors at him. The man's body glowed with a crazy heat, melting the pieces of metal before they could even touch him. Kuki's arms dropped as her eyes widened in shock, how was she going to get out of this? "That's a very interesting power you have there." Hotto laughed, grabbing the girl's chin as he pushed her against the ice wall. "I don't want to waste you on one of my statues, so I think I'm going to make you my new personal art work. My last one grew boring so she's now forever frozen into a form of ever lasting art." Hotto explained tilting her neck to the side as his other hand played with her hair.

She wanted to squirm, she wanted to rip her chin out of his grasp, and she wanted to defeat him, but how? The girl felt weak and helpless against the cold ice of a wall. Kuki knew what the best answer was, to keep both Franky and her safe, just put up with it. "Do you know what that means?" he asked, pulling her neck back to face him. Kuki didn't answer, meaning no. "It mean's that you'll be my doll, to dress and do as I please." She shivered at the thought, "Only if Franky and my other Nakama do not get any harm and I'm allowed to treat his injuries." Hotto tilted his head as an evil smirk spread across his face. "You think you're in the position to make a deal?" he asked, making Kuki hold her breath. "But alright, only because I think it's cute that you put others in front of yourself." Hotto replied, letting go of the blonde's chin, making her fall to her knees. "There's a room at the end of this hallway, you can bring him there and try to treat his injury."

"Kuki…" Franky tried to whisper, as the white haired man walked away. The girl placed both hands on her mouth as her eyes started to water, what had just happened? "Franky-Kun, can you stand?" she asked her voice wobbling. After getting himself up, the both of them somehow waddled over to the room Hotto had told Kuki about. This bedroom had a non-ice bed with a first aid box. She gently laid the cyborg down, taking off his jacket to check on his chest, which had been reduced to one big burn. Kuki frantically searched the box for burn ointment, giving a silent prayer when she found some. Just as she was about to rub some on his injury Franky grabbed her hand. "Why…did you do…that?" he managed to get out. She could see how much it hurt for him to talk. "How else was I supposed to save you, Baka?" Kuki tried to joke, but Franky wasn't buying it. "What is…Luffy going to say?"

"It doesn't matter now does it, what's done is done." Kuki answered, pulling her hand away from him so she could treat his burn. "Don't worry…they're all going to kick his ass." The cyborg sighed, "I was just not paying attention." Her eyes watered again, making Franky seem blurry. "Don't worry about me, I can handle myself." She lied. He closed his eyes, trying to rest. "What did he do to you; it was too fast for me to see?" Kuki asked, finishing with the ointment. "Heat, that's all I know. It was just suddenly really hot." He answered, looking a little relieved as the lotion started doing its job. "Alright, is your friend all patched up?" Hotto asked, scaring Kuki since he popped out of no where. She nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear, a signal saying she was frightened. "Follow me, I'll show you my works of art."

Kuki looked back at the resting figure of Franky one last time before closing the door and following the man. At the end of the hall there was a large room, with pillars reaching from the floor to the ceiling which seemed around 20 feet high. At the bottom of each pill there was a figure, each ice sculpture holding its own pose. _"Nice pose you got there, I've already picked out what position I'll freeze you in, and as for you…Cutie-Chan…I haven't made up my mind yet."_ The words Hotto had said earlier rang threw her mind, finally making her understand. "These…are…" Kuki started to say, taking a step away from the white haired man. Hotto turned and smirked at the girl, never taking his eyes off her as he started talking. "People, people I've made into eternal art to last forever. Just make sure you don't bore me enough to take this step with you."


	20. Chapter 20

"Is there a kitchen near by?" Franky asked, standing up. "Hey, sit down you're hurt." Kuki said, trying to get the cyborg to rest. "If I get cola then I'll be back to my Super self." He reassured, not listening to her. The tiny girl nodded her head, opening the door to show him the way. Hotto had given Kuki a tour of his ice 'palace', showing her where everything was. "We need to get out of here before night." She explained, walking towards where they had left the Shark Submerge. "And why is that?" Franky asked, gazing up at the huge metal door about three stories above him. That 'door' seemed like the only way in and out of this place, either that or Hotto hadn't shown Kuki any of the exits. "Because…" she tried to go on but couldn't. The white haired man had also shown Kuki her sleeping arrangements…his bedroom. The cyborg seemed to understand by the look on her face. "Alright, we'll be out before then."

Other Crew's POV "How do we get over there?" Nami wondered out loud. The Straw Hat's had climbed the side of the Iceberg, with a lot of help from Robin, and now where on the top only to realize that the 'Ice Island' had about a twenty feet gap between it and the ring of ice. "We need some sort of bridge…" Sanji muttered, kicking at the frozen water. "Well I could try but-" Robin tried to say, but got cut off. "What's with your crew and saving me the trouble, first the cyborg and Cutie-Chan, and now the rest of you." A man said, standing on the island of ice. "What did you do with Kuki-Tan!" Sanji asked, steam coming out of his nostrils. "We need to worry about Franky too." Nami added. "Oh, what do we have here, two more beautiful ladies? Ha, I went from having zero to three in one day!" Hotto laughed, causing Sanji's anger to grow.

"You bastard, I wont allow you to touch any of them!" he yelled back, red in the face. "Too late, Cutie-Chan has already agreed." He pointed out, making the crew stop. "What do you mean by that?" Zoro asked, talking for the first time since this guy appeared. "I mean that 'Kuki-Tan', as you call her, made a deal with me. You guys go free and unharmed and she becomes mine, a living piece of art for me to do as I please with." Hotto explained, smirking as he did. "I'm not leaving without my Nakama." Luffy stated, no emotion showing on his face. "Is that so, well I can't hurt you unless you attack me first." The man pointed out, as if he was beckoning the captain to try something. Luffy grabbed the end on the iceberg and stretched back. "Oi, wait. We don't know anything about this guy!" Ussop tried to explain. "Gomu Gomu no…" the rubber man started to say, totally ignoring his sharpshooter. "Rocket!"

Kuki's POV "Here, the last three." Kuki offered, holding out the glass bottles of Cola towards him. Franky opened the compartment in his stomach, took out the three empty glasses and took the ones from her. After closing it, the cyborg's eyes flashed red. "Super!" he yelled, as, cola smelling, steam shot out of his body. Franky's hair went back to its usual style and he had a smirk plaster to his face. "So how did your supply of pop run out so quickly?" Kuki asked, closing the fridge which was made out of ice. "The heat from the guy must have vaporized it all." He wondered himself. "Oh well lets go back to the 'entrance place', I wanna try something." She said, walking out the door expecting him to follow, which he did. "Oi, what did you want to do Neko-Chan?" Franky asked, still going on about the pretend cat ears on her jacket. "Can you break that door up there?"

"Of course, I'm especially super this week!" the cyborg yelled aiming up at the large metal door on the ceiling, "Weapons Left!" And with that the door exploded, sending large, metal fragments of it down, raining on the two. Kuki covered her head, protecting it from the smaller pieces. "Aright…great. Now can you give me a piggy back?" she asked, blushing a small bit when she did. Franky raised an eyebrow at the tiny girl but still knelt down so she could get on. "I can try and use my power to get us out of here, but I need to concentrate…" Kuki explained jumping on the cyborg's back. She aimed both hands down at the floor, slowed her breathing, and flushed everything else out of her mind. "Kaze Kaze no Air Push!" Kuki yelled as a force pushed them higher and higher off the ground. This would work if she kept control, but that meant focusing on the ground, showing her how high up she was. 'Calm down, calm down." Kuki repeated to her self.

Just as she was about to lose her concentration, Franky grabbed on to the edge of the ice. Kuki frantically held onto the cyborg so she didn't fall. He stretched out his arm to pull them up, only to get stomped on by Hotto. Now Franky was holding, dangling back and forth with Kuki on his back by just one arm. "Tch, naughty naughty Cutie-Chan. Were you trying to escape?" the white haired man asked. Kuki gasped, tightening her grip on the cyborg even harder as she saw his grasp on the ice slipping. "Oi, stop it!" Franky yelled, swinging his hand up to hold onto the edge again. "It's not nice when even your artwork doesn't appreciate you." Hotto explained, kicking the shipwright's hand away again. "I'm not art! I'm a person!" she screamed, partly from anger and partly from her fear of heights. "I…can't hold on the ice is melting." Franky struggled, "Climb up me to the ice." Kuki looked at her friend, still attached to his back. "No, I'm not."

Hotto reached down and grabbed Kuki by the back of her jacket. "Good bye cyborg." He smiled, hitting Franky's last hand down. She still tried to hold onto him with her one hand but it hurt too much. Letting go and watching Franky fall back down she screamed. "Franky!" Kuki cried, still reaching for him as if she could catch him some how. Hotto laughed and pulled the tiny girl up and placed her on solid ground. A large crash vibrated from the hole, Franky had landed on the submarine. Hotto snatched Kuki before she could get away, tucking her close to his chest as well as turning her around. For some reason the 'Ice Island' was now connected to the icebergs, and on those icebergs was the rest of the Straw Hat crew and her captain...Luffy. Who had burns all over him and was panting heavily. "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji yelled, seeing the girl cry he turned his anger towards the white haired man again, "You made a woman cry bastard!"

"Just try and attack, see how much heat Cutie-Chan can take." Hotto threatened as the cook took a step towards him. "Franky!" Kuki yelled again, trying to pull away from the man to check on him. When he didn't let go she placed both her hands on his bare chest, "Kaze Kaze no Air Push!" she yelled, blasting Hotto away from her. The man landed a few feet away, and Kuki took this chance to look down the edge of the ice, searching the inside of the 'Ice Palace' for her Nakama. She didn't see him anywhere, only the outline of him in the Shark Submerge where he had landed. "Bitch, that wasn't very nice!" Hotto yelled, kicking her away from the entrance. His foot was hot, so hot it Kuki could feel it threw her jacket as she slid across the ice. "Kuki!" Nami yelled, running over to her. The navigator fell to her knees and rolled the girl over. Hotto had hit her hard enough to cause blood to drip from her mouth.

"Bastard." Zoro mumbled, placing a sword in his mouth, preparing himself to attack this man. Just as the swordsman was going to take a step Luffy placed his hand on his shoulder. "I'm going to handle this, he's my opponent." The captain stated, pushing his hat further down his face. Reluctantly, Zoro sheathed his sword and walked over to where Nami and Kuki were. "You think you can beat me?" Hotto laughed, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm going to enjoy freezing you in my tank. I'll mount you somewhere special." Luffy still walked towards the man, silently as anger surrounded him. "No one… touches my Nakama." the rubber man said. Zoro knelt down and picked up the girl, carrying her over towards Chopper. Instinctively, Kuki curled in towards the swordsman, accidently smearing blood on his jacket. "Is she ok?" he asked, placing her down gently beside the tiny doctor. "Kuki will be fine if she rests." Chopper answered after checking her vitals. "I'll watch over her…" Zoro mumbled. Robin, Nami, and Ussop all raised and eyebrow at the swordsman…what was with his actions?


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's note: Hello! Just wanted to say my thanks for all the reviews I've been receiving! We're coming up to one of my favorite Arcs! Thriller Bark! Haha Yosh! I loved that arc so much, I wish I could rewind and watch it all over again Haha. Any who, I'll try my best to keep all characters in character (see what I did there? Haha I'm funny in my mind ^^) and I'll try and make it interesting! Thank you for reading and remember the more reviews the faster I write! Bye for now!**

"…Zoro-Kun?" Kuki mumbled as she opened her eyes to a light shade of green. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Luffy's voice rang out, causing Kuki to turn her head towards where she heard her captain. The rubber man just tried to strike Hotto, but without even touching the man Luffy un-stretched his arms and blew on them, "Hot, hot, hot!" Kuki looked around and saw the rest of the crew sitting/standing around not having a concern in the world. "What are you guys doing? Luffy-" she started to say, wondering why no one was helping or worrying. "Can handle it, he is the captain." Zoro cut her off, watching the two guys fight. "Alright…where's Franky?" Kuki asked, raising her head to look. The swordsman's face turned red, a bit jealous as she said his name. "He's fine, sitting over there with Ussop and Chopper." He pointed out, and sure enough there was the cyborg. "Do you…like him or something…?" Zoro wondered, not being able to look Kuki in the face as he waited for the answer.

Kuki looked at the green-haired man, appalled that he would ask such a thing. "No, he's my friend. It's just me and Franky joined around the same time so I guess I feel like we got to stick together…since you guys have known each other for so long." She tried to explain, not understanding why Zoro would even think that. Kuki tried to sit up, only to be pushed back down by the swordsman man. "…what…a…are…you" she tried to say, but the look he was giving her sent millions of goose bumps up her back. Kuki could feel the heat of Zoro's hands threw her shirt, since the doctor had unzipped the jacket to check on her, making the tiny girl blush. "Chopper said rest…so rest." He mumbled taking his hands away, his face too was stained a bit of red. "You can't win Straw Hat, and after I defeat you, I'm going after your crew." Hotto laughed, with only a few scratches on his body from where Luffy had managed to hit him.

"You're not hurting my friends!" he yelled, screaming at the man, "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Luffy's fists didn't hit Hotto before he pulled them back, the burns on them worse. "You can't defeat my heat." The white haired guy said. "Tch, it's not even hot." The captain muttered. "What did you say?" Hotto asked. Luffy flung his arms back; stretching them so far away Kuki couldn't see his hands anymore. "I said…you aren't even hot! Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!" FF a couple hours "I can't believe that guy was so weak and I lost to him." Kuki mumbled, sitting up in the crows nest by herself again. Luffy had ended up hurting that guy enough to knock him unconscious, after getting back onto the boat, leaving Hotto there, the Straw Hat's 'Coup De Burst'ed their way out of the Ice circle with the barrels of pop Franky had found. "Why am I so weak…" she wondered, watching as the sun sat right above her, marking it as noon. It would be lunch time soon and she would have to get down. "You know, you're like a stupid cat." Zoro stated, entering the Crows nest carrying many, heavy, looking weights.

"How am I a stupid cat?" she asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest angrily. She didn't need him talking down to her as well. The swordsman dropped all the weights on the ground, they all looked so heavy…Kuki was starting to wonder how strong this guy was. "You know how a cats climb trees and then get too afraid to get down? That's how, why do you come up here when you're afraid of heights?" he asked, wiping his brow as he set up all his equipment to look like a training room. "Oh…I don't really know why…I can think up here and it's away from all the noise…" Kuki explained, looking out to the window again. "So what, every time you come up here you're going to wait for me to come and help you down?" Zoro joked, teasing the girl. "W…what…no…I just…" she started to stutter, blushing so much that her cheeks turned warm. "It's ok, I understand…I like it up here too…" he mumbled back, sitting on the couch as well.

They both sat there in silence, looking out the window, only having the noise of their breathing fill the room. "Zoro-Kun…why…am I so weak?" Kuki asked, making the swordsman stop and look at her face. "You guys are so strong and even when I try I can't do anything, I always need someone to come and save me. I have a Logia type Devil's Fruit and I can't even use it right…I can't turn myself into air to dodge, and I suck at concentrating…" she tried to explain, her eyes watering a bit as she thought of each member and how they all are so strong in their own way. Suddenly Zoro pulled the girl into his chest, wrapping one arm around her head, holding the girl close to him. "You…shouldn't cry, it looks bad on you." The swords man mumbled, pretending to look out the window. Kuki looked up at his face, Zoro, who normal looked calm, looked like he was over thinking each action he did, his cheeks were pink and sweat was on his forehead. "…thanks…" she sighed, breathing in the smell of him, metal and sake, and for some reason that calmed her down.

"You aren't weak, just train a bit…I guess." He continued, desperately trying to find the right words that didn't sound awkward and that would actually help her. Kuki reached out and hugged him, hiding her face in her neck. Zoro's arms were out, hovering inches above Kuki's body, not knowing what to do. "Thank you…" she whispered. The girl's breath tickled the swordsman's neck, making his face blush harder as he slowly placed his arms around her as well. "…you're welcome…" FF an hour or so "Awesome!" Luffy and Chopper praised together, as Ussop landed his jump from the swing. "Yosh, my turn!" the captain yelled, jumping on the swing as he rocked back and forth to gain momentum. Then, feeling that he had enough force, Luffy jumped, flying into the wall. "Perfect landing!" Ussop and Chopper screamed, throwing their hands/hooves into the air. The captain then sat up and joined the other two in laughing

Kuki laid on the grass, taking a break as well as napping, or at least trying too. The weather had gotten warmer, allowing her too change into a pair of blue, jean shorts, her black, tank top, and a pair of lime green suspenders, which weren't over her shoulders. Her eyes were closed, but her mind was reeling. After the hug Zoro had indeed, helped her down the same way as before. Did this mean that everything was ok between them? Was he not mad at her for leaving him in the bath? And why did it seem that he was jealous of Franky? Nothing was or ever would happen between Kuki and the cyborg, she was positive about that, but why would Zoro care either way? "You seem like something's on your mind." Robin said, watering her flowers. Kuki opened her eyes and sat up, staring at the back of the older women, how did she do that all the time? "I guess you could say that." The tiny girl answered, standing up and walking over to the mini garden.

"What's wrong?" the archaeologist asked, not even looking at her. Kuki turned her head, seeing who was all outside, only the three guys. "It's about…" she tried to say, but didn't really know how to put it. "The swordsman?" she offered, watering the last of her plants. Kuki's face blushed, "Ya, I guess so…" The older women turned, finally meeting Kuki's gaze. "Men are really hard to figure out, especially his type, but don't worry it'll be alright." Robin offered, giving the girl a close-eyed smile. "Especially his type…?" Kuki asked, not quite understanding. "Let's just say he doesn't quite understand his own feelings." And then the women walked off, leaving Kuki's mind with more questions to answer. "She knows everything…I don't know if I should be impressed…or just creeped out…" the blonde muttered under her breath.

"Oi, there's something floating out in the water!" Zoro said over the intercom. The entire crew looked out, trying to figure out what the swordsman had seen. "It's over there." Kuki pointed, seeing something bobbing in the water. "A barrel?" Chopper asked, sticking his head threw the railings to get a better look. "Oi, it says treasure right on it!" Ussop pointed out, reading the flag that was attached to it. "Yosh, let's bring it up!" Luffy ordered, wanting to open the barrel. After Kuki steered out of the way to pick up the barrel, Franky placed it in the middle of the lawn. "Treasure, treasure, we found a treasure!" Ussop, Chopper and Luffy sung, dancing back and forth while they held each others shoulders. "Sorry, but it's just alcohol and some food." Nami stated, walking out of the dinning room. "How do you know if you didn't look?" the captain whined, not liking the way the navigator was trying to ruin their fun.

"See how the flag reads, 'Gift to the Sea God' on it?" Robin asked, pointing at the words. "Ya…and?" Franky asked, just as excited as the other three for treasure. "People send out those barrels when they ask the 'Gods' for a safe journey, filling it with food and alcohol." Kuki explained, still sitting by the garden where Robin had left her. "So what was the point of picking it up?" Ussop asked, depressed that there was no treasure. Zoro stood up and walked towards the barrel, patting the top, "It has drink in it, let's have some." Ussop glared, "Do you want to be struck by some God?" he asked. "If we fill it up after then it should be fine." Nami added. "Alright then, let's open it." Sanji smiled, wanting to see what type of food would be in it. Luffy stepped forward and untied the knots holding the lid on, after that he lifted the lid completely off, releasing a flare that shot up into the sky, so bright that it blinded each member momentarily.

Kuki had a bad feeling as she watched the flare explode into a large, red, circle. She wasn't the only one, Zoro, Sanji, Robin, Nami, Ussop, and Franky all had the same look on their face, a look of distrust. After a minute of two the flare dissipated, leaving the Straw Hat crew to think. "What was that?" the captain wondered out loud. "A flare." Zoro answered, still looking up at the sky. "Why would a flare be in there?" Chopper asked, looking at everyone. "What's a flare used for?" Robin pointed out, giving the crew a rhetorical question. "To find people."


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's note: Hello again! I just want to warn you all that this Easter weekend I'm going to be very busy and will not get as many chapters as I have been out. I would also like to thank everyone for reading and for all the reviews, especially Kish-Chan! Thank you for all the help from your reviews! Enjoy the Chapter! **

"How long until we're out of this mist?" Nami asked, placing a hand on her hip. Kuki was panting, sprawled out on the lawn, staring up at the foggy, sky. "I don't mind it…" she mumbled, too exhausted to do anything but lay down. The Straw Hat crew had been in this mist for three days so far after the red flare, and Kuki had done nothing but train. "You first got to get the method down, concentration, work on your concentration." Zoro had told her when the girl had confronted him. Who knew that focusing and doing nothing but stress your mind for a couple of days would tire you…Kuki defiantly didn't. 'But I can already tell a difference in my understanding of this power.' The tiny girl thought, watching as her chest rose and fell with every inhale and exhale. 'After this I work on fighting…" she recalled, remembering the steps. Method, practise, and put to work. They seemed so easy, but even the first one was giving her problems.

"How can you not mind? This fog is giving me the creeps…" the navigator mumbled, rubbing her arms to keep the goose bumps away. "I don't feel anything negative from it so it doesn't bug me." Kuki answered, testing out the atmosphere around her. It was as if she could 'taste' the air's emotions, everyone's feelings poured into the wind around them and she could now 'read' it. "Is it day or night?" Chopper asked, swaying back and forth on the swing. "Noon." Robin answered, trying to read a book in the dim lighting. The fog was so thick here it seemed as if it was permanently midnight. "I just want to get out of Florian Triangle…" Nami whispered, still a bit scared. "I hope we get to see at least one ghost ship before we do." Kuki laughed, she loved the feeling of getting scared. "Don't say that! You'll jinx us!" Ussop yelled, dressed up in his 'exorcism' gear. The tiny girl laughed as she finally sat up.

She was wearing her black shorts, green and black striped, knee-high socks, black suspenders and a short sleeved, off the shoulder, green top. "Every year, in this ocean, many ships disappear without a trace…maybe that'll happen to us." Robin added casually, making Nami, Chopper and Ussop hug each other in fear. "Don't say things like that!" the three yelled. Suddenly, Kuki sat up, looking out to the fog behind them, the mood had changed…she could feel some loneliness. Each crew member was out on the deck, Zoro was napping, Sanji was waiting on the girls, Luffy was trying to fish and Franky was helping the captain. The tiny girl stood up, wobbling at first, and started walked over to the railing of the ship, looking over the edge to get a better view. "A…boat?" she asked out loud, seeing an outline of a huge ship almost twice the size of sunny. It was sailing beside them, a little faster and was starting to pass. Each member looked at the ship, the sails were shredded, the hull had gaps missing and there was not a sign of human life.

"Yohohohoooo…" an eerie voice rang out, filling in the silence. "W…what was that?" Nami stuttered, looking as if she was going to cry from the fear. "Yohohohoooo…" again the voice sung. The middle of the old ship could finally be seen from the Thousand Sunny, and there, sitting on a stool…was a skeleton. "Yohohohoooo…going to bring…" he sung, all the while staring at everyone aboard Sunny. "Brink's his drink…Yohohohoooo…" the skeleton finished as his huge ship past the Straw Hats, taking a sip out of his cracked teacup. For a couple of seconds everyone stayed silent, as their minds tried to comprehend what had just happened. "A ghost ship!" they all yelled, terrified. (FF a couple of minutes) "Here, with this we'll decide who goes to the ship with Luffy." Zoro explained, holding out a handful of Popsicle sticks. "Why not let him go with the people who want to!" Nami, Chopper and Ussop yelled falling around the swordsman's feet.

"Do you really think he's fine with them?" he asked, pointing over to Robin, Sanji, Kuki, Luffy and Franky. The three started to cry at Zoro's feet, "No…not at all." The green haired man held out his hand, offering it to Sanji first. The cook pulled out one, then Robin, Franky, Kuki, Ussop, Chopper and Nami, leaving one in Zoro's hand for himself. "Aw, I really wanted to go." Kuki muttered, seeing as her stick wasn't small. "Same hear Helmsman-Chan." Robin added, emotionless. "I get to go with Nami-Swan!" Sanji yelled, swooning over the weeping girl. "No…please no…" she cried as Luffy dragged her towards the ghost ship beside the rails. With friendly waves, the three disappeared over the top of the large boat, hopping onto the deck. "I wonder if they'll return…" the archaeologist asked to no one in particular. "Of course they will…right Zoro?" Ussop asked, still attached to the man's feet.

Kuki gazed up at the torn apart ship… that feeling of loneliness and despair was radiating off of it. "So, how's the training going?" the swordsman asked, ripping her away from her trail of thought. Kuki turned and looked up at Zoro, smiling. "I think it's going good, I already…'feel'…that I'm more connected to my fruit I guess you could say." The tiny girl air quoted. He smirked down at her, placing a hand on his swords. "If you ever need a sparing partner…I'm here." (FF to when Luffy brings Brook to Sunny) "Yohohoho, how do you do? I'm afraid that while sailing my boat hit some trouble, I am 'Just Dead Bone' Brook!" the skeleton introduced himself, raising his top hat in the air as he did. "What the hell! What is this guy?" the rest of the crew, who didn't go on the ghost ship, asked. Kuki snapped out of her fear after she realized all the feelings she had felt were pouring out of him…but he looked so happy…

"Yohohoho, oh my! How harsh!" Brook laughed, brushing off their comment about him. Luffy started laughing, finding this whole situation absolutely hilarious. Nami and Sanji stood behind the two, sighing in defeat as they failed at their job, stopping their captain from doing anything stupid. "It…It's…a…a skeleton!" Chopper shattered, holding up a golden cross in front of his face, as if it would protect him. "Oh what a beautiful woman." Brook said, walking up to Kuki. The tiny girl blushed at the tall skeleton, partly afraid and partly intrigued. "Would you allow me to see your panties?" he asked casually. Before she could answer, Zoro kicked Brook away, fuming with anger, "What is wrong with you!" The skeleton got up off the ground and laughed, not noticing the lump on his head. "S-skeleton, y-you hurry and g-get out of h-here. Evil spirits be gone, evil spirits be gone…" Ussop mumbled, so fast barely anyone could understand, but Brook did take two steps away.

"It's working!" the tiny doctor screamed, smiling as it looked like Brook was backing off. "Of course it is! I'm the great Ussop!" the sharpshooter called out, as his knees were rattling together from fear. "Evil spirit? Where? Where is it?" the skeleton asked, moving his head side to side, looking for the 'spirit'. "It's you!" the two yelled, pointing both of their crosses at Brook, who screamed in reply, as if he didn't know. The captain fell to the ground laughing, slapping his knee every now and then. "Oi Luffy, what's up with this guy?" Zoro asked red in the face with anger. "Isn't he funny? He's part of our crew now." The rubber man answered, giving his Nakama a goofy grin. "What?" Kuki protested, pulling the side of her captain's face, stretching it before letting it got, snapping on his face.

"I don't care! I wont let him be!" the swordsman screamed back, pointing menacingly at the skeleton, "Why the hell did you guys go with him? You didn't even do your job!" he added, glaring at the navigator and cook. "Sorry…" they both replied, both depressed. "Yohohoho, nothing to get so worked up about. Let's go inside now. We can have dinner!" Brook offered, pointing towards the dinning room's door. "You can't decide that!" (FF to dinner) "Yohohoho, oh what a wonderful dining room!" the skeleton complimented, scaring Ussop and Chopper as he sat near them. The two desperately held onto their crosses and sat still. "This is such a marvellous ship!" Brook screamed, overjoyed. Kuki picked up on his emotions, other then the other two she felt before, excitement radiated from the guy…but what was he excited for? "Yeah, that's cuz' this super guy made it!" Franky boasted, pointing at himself with his thumb.

"Oi, don't get attached to him Franky." The cook warned, preparing food. The tiny girl looked at the skeleton, his excitement wavered after that. 'Why do I feel like Sanji was being mean?' she thought, wondering if the strong feelings she felt threw the air affected hers in anyway. "But what I'm mostly happy about is the food. I haven't eaten in ages so I feared that my body and organs would shrivel up and become nothing…becoming skin and bones…" Brook mumbled, laying his head on the table. The entire crew looked at him, almost giving the skeleton pity. "Although I'm all bones and have no skin at all! Yohohoho, skull joke!" he yelled, jumping up from the table and showing the Straw Hats his ribs. "I really like this guy! He's funny!" Luffy laughed, smiling at Brook. The rest of the crew sighed…this was going to be a long dinner.


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's note: Hello! Author here, just saying sorry for missing a day yesterday. I was quite hung over and then drunk after while I was celebrating Easter with my family 'our' traditional way and I didn't feel like it was the best to try and write. Any who I want to thank all of my beloved readers…seriously I LOVE YOU…yes in a creepy 'stare at you while you squirm' way…ok maybe not like that but close! I want to personally thank all my reviewers… (I love you guys a tiny bit more…but don't tell my readers ;) haha) Well enjoy the chapter! P.S you can tell I finished all of my Easter chocolate…can't you?**

"You asked me to join your crew, correct?" Brook asked, wiping himself clean of the earlier mess. Octopus was all over the table because of Luffy and him. "That made me very happy, thank you." The skeleton bowed, showing his respect. Kuki put the last of her food in her mouth, savouring the flavour. "I'll take your plate." Sanji said, reaching over to grab a hold of it. The tiny girl smiled in response and then turned her attention back onto her captain. "But I must refuse." Brook said, stunning everyone. "What?" Luffy asked, slightly angry. The skeleton sat down, signalling that it was going to take awhile to explain. "As I said before, my shadow was stolen, and I am unable to return to the light of the world." He explained, "Right now I am under the protection of this fog in the Florian Triangle. If I was to leave, this ocean with you, it would only be a matter of time before my body disappeared for good. So that is why I must stay here and await the day I can take back my shadow."

The captain stood and slapped his hands down on the table, "What are you talking about? If you need your shadow then I'll get it back for you! You said someone stole it, who is he, where is he?" Luffy asked, looking up into the sockets of the skeleton's face. "You are a very nice person, but I'm not going to tell you. If I did and you went after him, you would die." Brook said back. Kuki almost had enough of this chatter and was going to take this time to escape, but stopped when she saw the man pull out a violin from his case. "Now that that's done, let's sing a song. Music is my pride. I was a musician on my last ship." Brook offered, placing the instrument under his chin. The tiny girl was excited, she loved music. "Then you really have to join our crew!" Luffy yelled, stars twinkling in his eyes, he had always wanted a musician on his crew. Just as Kuki was going to go back and sit down, the skeleton screamed, falling back onto the ground.

"G-g-g-g-ghost!" Brook yelled, pointing his violin at the wall on the opposite side. Everyone turned, and there, poking out from the wood, was a ghost smiling sickly at them. Ussop, Nami, and Chopper screamed the loudest, hugging onto each other. The boat started rocking, almost tossing all the items on the table to the floor. "Why are we shaking?" Zoro asked, looking down at the floor as he tried to stabilize himself. "No, it can't be…" Brook mumbled, running to the door and throwing it open, gazing out into the fog, "What a thing to happen…those guys were watching this ship?" everyone came outside as well, as soon as the ghost disappeared threw the wall again. "Are…those teeth?" Kuki asked, staring at what, was now, blocking the way of Thousand Sunny. "Did we get eaten?" Ussop asked, still shaking from the 'ghost'.

"This is the back gate…" the skeleton muttered. Kuki looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "A gate?" Zoro questioned, folding his arms across his chest. Without notice, Brook ran threw the kitchen to the door leading to the back of the ship, making the Straw Hats follow. "Did you happen to pick up a floating barrel?" the musician asked, not looking anywhere but straight ahead as he did. "Ya…" Luffy answered, remembering the red flare. "Of course…this is bad…you guys have been targeted since then..." Brooke muttered, making little to no sense. "What do you mean 'targeted'?" Kuki asked, trying to make out the shapes she could see threw the heavy mist. Suddenly, an Island appeared from no where. With old, broken down, stony walls, a stone mansion, and a forest, heavy with trees. The fog still lurked around, in between the branches and the window, giving off a feel of a haunted house.

"An island, but Kokoro said that the next Island was after the Florian Triangle…" Nami muttered, receiving many shivers by just looking at the place. "The floating ghost Island…Thriller Bark…" Brook whispered, as if saying it's name was bad, "Get away as quick as you can. Don't go on the island." And with that the skeleton jumped over the edge of the ship. "Hey!" Sanji screamed remembering, along with everyone else, that he was a devil fruit user. But the skeleton didn't drown in the ocean; instead it looked as if he was sprinting across the top of it. "It's because he's so light." Robin explained, chuckling into her hand as she watched the crew shut their gaping mouths. "A-anyway…let's turn around and leave." Nami muttered, wanting to get far away from this 'island'. But the captain just stared at the shore, his eyes twinkling as he thought of all the adventures. "Nice try, but looks like we're going." Kuki said, patting the navigator on the back.

(FF to Nami, Ussop and Chopper on the Mini Merry) Kuki watched in amazement as Nami steered the steam powered boat around, it could go pretty fast for a four person ship. "It's my turn; hurry up it's my turn!" Luffy called out, jumping up and down in excitement. "That's really great." Zoro said, smiling out towards the paddle boat. Kuki looked up and smiled, he too must've missed the Going Merry. "Just wait Straw Hat, they just got out." Franky muttered watching his work fly over the waves Nami sent it threw. "Is that all of them?" the captain asked, wondering if the cyborg had another surprise. "Yeah, that's all of them. Channel 0- Support Paddles, Channel 1: the Waver, which holds one person, Channel 3: Shark Submerge #3, holding three people, and Channel 2: the Mini Merry which holds four people." He explained, counting the numbers on his fingers.

"I really like the way you think Franky! You! You! You!" Luffy complimented, hitting the shipwright on the back. "I'm just really great this week too…Super!" the cyborg yelled, taking up his pose while knocking over his captain. Suddenly a scream filled the air. "Nami-san!" the cook yelled, immediately searching over the edge of Thousand Sunny. Everyone combed the water with their eyes, not being able to see the Mini Merry and it's passengers anywhere. While Kuki was looking, a shiver ran up her spine as if someone had ran their finger up her back. She spun around and noticed no one was there. The air filled with negativity, making the tiny girl feel, almost, claustrophobic. "Nami-Swan, what's wrong?" Sanji asked, searching for a reply and receiving none. "It came from the island." Robin pointed out. 'How can everyone be so calm?' she thought, still searching the deck.

"Kuki…are you ok?" Zoro asked, giving her a questionable look. He could tell by the look on her face that something was wrong. She looked up at him, and then back to the deck, "No, must've been my imagination." The blonde girl muttered, shaking off the feeling. "Hey, hurry back! I want a turn!" Luffy called out, going back to his 'jumping'. "Bastard, you need to worry about Nami-Swan's safety!" the cook scorned, hitting him aside the head. The cyborg sweat dropped watching the pair, "And you need to worry about the other two as well." But Sanji totally ignored him and went back to his searching. "Perhaps she screamed as she was cursed by a ghost?" Robin offered with no emotion on her face. "Stop that, it's not funny." Zoro said, glancing at the archaeologist. Without notice, the anchor for the Thousand Sunny went out, trying to stretch to the bottom of the ocean.

Everyone stopped and watched it, no one was close enough to touch it, and this was a new ship, so how did it go down? "Hurry, it'll unbalance the ship and we'll capsize!" Kuki ordered, being the first one to come out of the daze. Before anyone could move the hidden latch on the lawn deck opened, once again having no one near it. Zoro placed a hand around his first sword, instinctively noticing something wasn't right. His eyes swept across the ship, searching. Everyone stood still, not daring to move, everyone but Kuki. "Alright I'll do it myself." She muttered, running up to the latch that brought up the anchor. As soon as she was about to touch it she stopped, there was something blocking her way…or at least she thought there was. Suddenly Luffy's face started stretching out, as if someone was pulling at the sides. "Oi, stop that!" the cook ordered. "It's not me!" the captain mumbled, holding up his hands as proof. Soon after his cheeks snapped back, forcing Luffy to fall on the deck.

One of the swords Zoro hadn't been holding onto, fell out of it's sheath, flying down towards where the Captain was. "Straw Hat!" Franky yelled, kicking Luffy away just as the cursed sword landed where his face had been. "What was that for?" the cyborg yelled, directing his anger towards the swordsman. "Sorry…my sword kind of just flew…" Zoro muttered, looking down at the sheath. Kuki had backed up into Robin, and both of them froze when they heard a growl, a growl of a huge beast. Sanji lit a smoke and put it in his mouth. "Other then us…there's something else on this boat…" he exhaled, not letting his guard down. "Anyway, I'm worried about Nami-Swan, you guys watch the ship." The cook said before leaping off the railing. But instead of going into the water, he stayed there…in mid air. He floated up higher, flew around in circles and landed back on the deck with force such as if he'd been thrown.

"What…is going on?" Kuki asked, her voice seeming so quite. "We can't even leave the ship." Franky pointed out. Kuki started walking backwards, the feeling getting worse and worse, it felt as if the negativity was pushing her back. "What are they trying to do? If they wanted us dead they could have done it a long time ago." Zoro asked, taking up a defensive pose. Suddenly something grabbed Kuki and Robin, holding both their hands behind their back. "Ow." The archaeologist let out, getting the attention of the guys. "What's going on?" they asked, seeing both girls with a scared look plastered on their faces. "Something's…" Kuki tried to say but couldn't as whatever was holding onto her tightened it's grip. "Holding onto us." Robin finished, trying to pull her arms free. Before the older women could a wet feeling went up Kuki's shoulder, all the way to her neck. It was as if something was licking her, and soon after the same happened to Robin.

The archaeologist finally broke free, leaving the tiny girl there to fend for herself. "Let her go." Zoro ordered, taking a step towards Kuki but tripping and falling on his face. "I like weak women better." The mystery man purred, throwing her over his shoulder. The blue eyed girl suddenly became furious; she had just trained for three whole days so she wouldn't be the one that always needs help. "I am not weak!" she yelled, placing both hands, on what she felt, was his back. "Kaze Kaze no Bullet Burst!" Kuki yelled, sending two, strong, bullet like jets of wind into his back. Whoever it was dropped her. Kuki landed on her knees and sprung back up, awaiting another attack. Instead the ship tilted sideways, unbalancing every crew member. "What was that?" Luffy asked, placing a hand safely onto his hat. "A wave…hurry get the anchor up!"


	24. Chapter 24

The ship hit a web like wall with such force from the wave that it sent each member flying. Kuki shrieked, feeling the wind hit her body as she kept getting higher and higher. 'I'm going to die, I'm too high up!' she screamed in her head, closing her eyes shut. A pair of strong arms curled her into them. She forcefully, peeled her eyes open to the firm set face of the swordsman. Zoro bent his knees as he landed on a broken wall and, quickly after, he jumped to the ground. "Are you ok?" the green haired man asked, looking down at her. "I thought I was going to die…" Kuki whimpered, stuffing her face into his chest as her earlier fear still rang clearly threw her body. Zoro let her down after she had calmed down. 'I'm still weak…' Kuki thought, taking in her surroundings. Right in front of the two, was the mansion. "Where is everyone else?" she asked, looking up at the huge, stone building.

"Um, they all kind of went in different directions…" he replied, scratching the back of his head. 'And you jumped after me…?' Kuki asked in her head, smiling on the outside. Zoro blushed as he saw her smiling at him, and turned his head away. "I think we should probably head towards the house…its big enough for everyone to see so the smart thing would meet up there." She offered pointing at the Mansion. Zoro nodded his head in agreement and turned as if to start walking. "Um…Zoro-Kun…the house is that way…" Kuki awkwardly said, pointing in to opposite direction. The Mansion was in visible view, and yet the swordsman had turned around and was about to head in the other direction. (FF to at the building) "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji's voice screamed out. Zoro and Kuki could see the cook running down the trail leading to the gate of the large house, clouds of dirt following him.

"Sanji-Kun…" she mumbled as the cook kneeled in front of her and took her hand. "Are you alright my Angel, did the Marimo-Head do anything to you?" he asked, staring up at the blue eyes with hearts. Zoro grumbled as he watched the two, getting slightly angry. Sanji was just about to place Kuki's hand to his lips, but Zoro hit him across the head. "What was that for!" the cook screamed, letting go of her hand as he faced off with the swordsman. "We don't have time for this! Where is everyone else?" the green haired man rebutted. Before Kuki could break them up, more people walking down the trail that Sanji had sped down, caught her eye. "Oi!" Luffy screamed, waving his arms around, with Franky and Robin on either side. "Robin-Chwan!" the cook swooned, running back down the same trail he had just came up to go meet the older woman. Kuki couldn't help but chuckle at the smoker.

"Baka…" Zoro mumbled his face a bit red as he watched the cook now walked back towards them, "That was pointless." (FF to inside the mansion) "Oi, Gecko Moria! Come out!" Luffy screamed, his voice echoing threw the seemingly empty room. "This is a mess." Robin pointed out. And she was right, the large dinning table was flipped over, all the chairs were thrown about, the candles on the chandelier were missing and glass was scattered on the floor. Kuki walked over to one of the many pictures. Each one had a dead person pictured in them, with odd coloured skin, wounds and stitches. The tiny girl ran her finger over one of the pictures. "It's…leathery…" she muttered, taking her finger away as she walked back to the group. Without notice an eerie chuckle filled the air, making the crew look up to a pig head attached to a mantle. "More zombies…" Sanji grumbled, lighting another cigarette. Zoro's and Kuki's eyes widened, "Zombies?" they gasped. And by the look on everyone else's face, it seemed that they were the only two who didn't know.

"Yes, this island seems to be populated with Zombies." Robin explained while everyone watched the snickering pig head. "It takes some guts to know our master's name and still walk inside." The animal muttered, giving the six members an awkward grin, "Let's welcome our guests!" Suddenly the room erupted in noise, the pictures came alive and stretched out and the bear rug on the floor stood up, surrounding the Straw Hats. "Oi, oi… those were all zombies too?" Sanji asked, calmly watching the Zombies that had circled them. Luffy looked around with twinkling eyes, these un-dead creatures were impressing him. The cook started off the fight, kicking the nearest picture zombie in the face, "Where are you hiding Nami-Swan!" he yelled, forcing the Zombie back into the picture frame he had come out of. Another un-dead creature came at Zoro with a spear, and with a quick flick of the wrist his swords cut threw the low grade weapon, shattering it into many pieces.

"M-my spear!" the zombie stuttered, trying to get away from the swordsman. But the man smirked up at him, having the shadows fall on his face in such a way that made the Zombie freeze with fear. "Kaze Kaze no Gale Slash!" Kuki yelled, placing her fists together. She made a mini tornado around her where a bunch of un-dead Zombies had ganged up on her, filling up the wind with the tiny razors, slicing up the Zombies. "You guys can't be the Nakama of those weaklings... can you?" One gasped, backing away from the group. Franky grabbed a hold of two more creatures by the neck, not letting them go. Robin, on the other hand, was using her devil fruit to take care of multiple Zombies, smiling the entire time. "Yes!" Franky answered, slamming the heads of the Zombies he held together. "Nitoryuu Nigiri." Zoro smirked, placing two swords sideways in front of him.

"Nigiri (the zombie thinks Zoro meant a type of sushi) sounds tasty!" a zombie laughed, still flying at the swordsman. "Hirameki!" Zoro yelled, charging at the rest of the un-dead, slashing at them. "It was gross." The zombie cried before falling to the ground. "This island is so fun!" Luffy laughed, running away from the last, bear-zombie. Kuki sweat dropped as she watched the captain run back and forth, laughing like a goofball. "You little brat!" the bear yelled, getting angry as each swipe it took at the pirate missed. "If you weren't in our way you could have been really fun!" Luffy exclaimed, jumping and running up the arm of the bear. "Gomu Gomu no Bazooka!" the captain yelled, slamming his un-dead opponent into the wall. And with that the last of the Zombies in the dinning room were defeated. "Yosh, all done." Luffy laughed, slapping his hands and putting his hands back onto his head.

"No, not yet." Franky said pointing up at the pig above of the fireplace. The pig started sweating, as he awkwardly smiled down at the group. "Where's our three Nakama?" Robin asked, smiling evilly down at the Zombie. "They're in their bed! Tucked in and sleeping!" he muttered, still sweating heavily under the gaze of the archaeologist. "Yeah right." Franky said sarcastically, cracking his knuckles. "It's true! I saw them going there! Up those stairs over there!" he said quickly, pointing up the stairs that went above the fireplace. "Hey…wait a second…" Kuki muttered, looking around the room for someone. "Hm?" Robin asked, looking as well. Zoro arched an eyebrow at the tiny girl, asking her to carry on. "Sanji's gone…" the tiny girl finished. All the zombies laying on the floor started giggling, as if they were all in on a secret that the Straw Hats pirates didn't have a clue about.

The evil feeling that surrounded Kuki seemed to be soaking in threw her skin, effecting and controlling her emotions. The look in her blue eyes changed, turning from the bright, sky blue, to the color off the deep dark ocean. She walked over to one of the Zombies and stomped on its head, pushing down. "What's so funny?" she smirked, pushing down harder. The rest of the crew watched Kuki with surprise, even Robin looked slightly shocked. "N-n-n-nothing!" the zombie squirmed, trying to get out of under her foot. "Where's our Nakama?" the tiny girl ordered, pressing down so hard that a crack echoed in the room. Kuki kept slamming down, smiling evilly as she watched the Zombie squirm. "Kuki…" Robin muttered her eyes wide. Zoro walked over to the tiny girl, not even knowing this girl in front of him. He didn't understand what was going on but it bugged him.

His arms wrapped around her waist, lifting the blonde girl up and away from the Zombie she was crushing. As soon as the swordsman's skin touched Kuki's she was thrown out of the angry mist she was in, back to her normal self and eye color. "W…what was that?" she whimpered, remembering very little of the past few minutes. "You were very scary!" Luffy laughed, patting the girl on the head. 'Are feelings like this going to…effect me all the time?' she wondered, slightly scared as Zoro let go of her. "Are you alright?" he asked, worry visible on his face. "Ya…ya I'm fine, just got a little carried away." She smiled, waving the swordsman off. Robin walked up to Kuki, leaning down indiscreetly so no one else would see, "Let's talk about it after all this mess."


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's note: Hellooooo! Sorry for my absence! Gomen! I've been busy with my friends and lets just say one thing led to the next and the police got involved ( NO FUN!) any who that's no excuse and I'm also sorry this chapter is short I LOVE YOU ALL! Enjoy!**

"What if Gecko Moria saw that old man ask us for help, maybe that's connected to Sanji's disappearance." Franky wondered, carrying the Zombie pig over his shoulder. "What old man?" Kuki asked, curious. "An old grandpa with a big wound, he asked us to defeat Moria to get back everyone's shadow." Luffy explained with not a care in the world except finding his lost Nakama. They had all decided that looking for Chopper, Nami and Ussop took higher priority then the cook, since he could take care of himself. "Serves the Baka cook right, but to think one of the Shichibukai was hiding out here…" Zoro mumbled, walking down the hallway with the other crew members. The pig only chuckled, making everyone annoyed. "What are we going to do if one of our shadows is taken?" Kuki asked, a little fearful because it sounded like a painful process. "Now that would make things interesting." Robin smiled, again making the tiny girl shudder.

"I-I don't know anything." The Zombie stuttered, sweating once again. "Saving our friends comes first over worrying." The captain ordered, throwing his hands behind his head. "Like I said before, your Nakama are no longer safe." The pig chuckled. Luffy hit the un-dead creature in the head, "Stop oinking and lead us!" Zoro stopped walking and looked behind the group, something catching his eye. "What's wrong?" Franky asked, making the rest of the crew pause as well. "No…I'm imagining things?" the swordsman answered, slowly turning back around as he continued to walk. Kuki's body shivered, feeling as if something was wrong, and from reaction she stopped and turned. Her gaze surveyed the dark hallway, searching for something. "You feel it to?" Zoro asked, also stopping beside her. The girl just nodded, the feeling growing worse.

Suddenly, rope like strings wrapped around both the swordsman and her, pulling them together, and before they could make a noise their mouths were shut. Kuki's eyes widened once she caught sight of the culprits, huge mice with spider bodies. They both were like fly's caught in webbing, and with out a sound the two were pulled up into the ceiling away from their Nakama who hadn't noticed a thing. Zoro started struggling, trying to break the web that was tied around him. He squirmed and tried pulling his arms apart but nothing worked. 'If Zoro can't break this…we're doomed…' Kuki thought, feeling how hard he was working since they were tied together. The mice like spiders were carrying the two down a tunnel. 'What's going to happen?' she thought as they entered a pitch black area. The blonde could feel them being placed into a box of some sort, with silk lining. One of the mice crawled up and pulled the webbing from both of their mouths off. "Oi!" Zoro shouted, right before they closed the lid, locking Kuki and him in the tight box.

"Let us out!" Kuki screamed kicking at the top as hard as she could, but it didn't even budge. The girl could hear the giggling of the creatures as the box started to move. "Ow." Zoro mumbled as Kuki started moving, she had accidently elbowed him in the face. "Sorry…not that much room in…whatever this is…" she mumbled, glad there was no light so the swordsman couldn't see the blush staining her cheeks. "I think it's a coffin." He murmured, moving around as well. Kuki froze, "You…don't think they'll bury us alive…would they?" He shrugged and continued to shuffle around, trying to find a way out, until Zoro's hand brushed over Kuki's chest, then they both stopped. "Um…I-I'm sorry…" he stuttered, obviously embarrassed. "It's, um, ok…just an accident…" the girl replied, her entire face now tomato-red. Without notice, their coffin stopped, and layed back down on a flat surface. "Oi! Let us out! Is anybody out there?" Zoro yelled, trying once again to hit the lid open with no luck.

The Coffin door got ripped off, revealing a huge creature with horns smiling down at them. "Gecko Moria…" Kuki muttered, staring at the Shichibukai. "What do you want?" the swordsman ordered, glaring at him. The girl breathed in from shock, Zoro was giving this type of attitude to him? Moria reached out and cut the webbing connecting the two, but still left enough to hold each other down by themselves. His hands wrapped around Zoro, lifting him away. "Let go of me! What are you doing!" the green haired man struggled, trying to get away. "Shihihihihihi!" the monster laughed, suspending the swordsman in the middle of the room by a single line of web. "Zoro!" Kuki yelled, still inside the coffin. She watched in horror as Moria turned on a spot light, which placed the swordsman's shadow in perfect view. He reached down and grabbed a hold of it. "Oi!" the green haired man yelled. The Shichibukai stretched the shadow far away from Zoro and picked up a large pair of scissors.

"Snip." And with that noise Kuki stopped breathing. Zoro fell limp, as if he was lifeless. "What did you do! Give that back!" she yelled, struggling so hard that she fell out of the box and landed on the hard, cold ground with a thud. "Shihihihihihi! You should be worrying about yourself, rather then others." Moria laughed, tossing the first mate's body to the side. Kuki watched him fall on top of Sanji, who she had just noticed. The monster grinned and held the green haired man's shadow in his fist. He turned and placed the shadow against a Zombie behind him, making it come to life. "Zoro! He better be alright or I'll-" the tiny girl started to say. "You'll what? Shihihihihihi, I don't know if even taking your shadow is worth the trouble." Moria smirked, cutting her off. He grabbed a hold of Kuki next, hanging her up where Zoro had been moments before. "Logia users are all weak when you take away their powers, never mind one that can't even use her powers correctly! Shihihihihihi!" he said, revealing a mouth full of shark like, sharp teeth.

"Shut up! I'm not weak!" she yelled, swaying back and forth. The Shichibukai's smile widened, as if he was enjoying this. "If you weren't weak you could dodge this." Moria explained, raising his hand and forcing it down in a swinging motion to hit Kuki. The force was so strong it broke the string holding her up and made her slide across the floor. The tiny girl gritted her teeth together in pain, not letting him have the satisfaction. 'He's right, I have a power and I can't even use it right. I could even save my Nakama that has saved me so many times before.' She reasoned in her head. Kuki's eyes started to sting, signalling that she was almost going to cry. 'No, don't…' the blonde told herself, as Moria picked her up and hung her in the middle of the room once again. "Shihihihihihi, your shadow is unnecessary, so I'll put it in an unnecessary Zombie." The Warlord laughed, turning on the spot light.

Kuki closed her eyes from the brightness, and then opened them when they got used to the light. "Stop!" she yelled, seeing him reach for her shadow. But Moria didn't listen, he started peeling it off from the floor and Kuki felt as if something in her core was being stretched away from her. "No! Get away!" the tiny girl cried, watching him pull the shadow far from her body. "Snip."


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Note: Sorry everyone for the late, late update. I've been super busy! But I hope you enjoy this! Thanks for all the readers and reviewers! And remember…the more reviews the faster I update! 3**

(Other Crew's POV) "Oi, I found them! All four are in the dining room!" Ussop yelled out, getting Robin's, Franky's and Chopper's attention. The other three charged up the stairs and in threw the door, and there, in plain view, were their four other Nakama. The three guys were dressed up ridiculously, with chopsticks in their nose's, ponytails and clothing pins on their cheeks, lucky for her, Kuki was normal, laying on the floor. "Luffy, wake up!" the doctor tried, shaking the captain. But it didn't work; he was sound asleep like the rest of them. "Brook said they wouldn't wake for two days after having their shadows taken…" Robin mumbled, gazing down at the four. "Well we can't wait that long, let me try." Franky smirked, cracking his knuckles. He hit the sleeping figures of Zoro, Sanji and Luffy multiple times, creating massive goose eggs on their heads and breaking the chairs they were placed on. "They won't wake up…" Ussop whispered, seeing as the cyborg's attempt failed to do anything but break their property and harm their Nakama.

"Do these guys feel anything?" the shipwright asked, "Can't help it…Oi…move I'll use my bazooka." Franky finished, aiming threw his hand down in the middle of the sleeping crew mates. Just before he was going to shoot, Ussop held out his hand. "No there's no need…" the sharpshooter stated, inhaling a lot of air for what he was about to say, "Robin, Nami and Kuki are wearing revealing bathing suits with swords and lots of meat!" (Kuki's POV) 'I'm wearing…a revealing bathing suit?' her mind processed, and just after a moment she shot up, her arm covering her back. "Girls?" "Swords?" "Meat?" "Revealing?" all four of the Straw Hats, who had been asleep, were now awake and confused. "These guys are hopeless!" Chopper screamed, throwing his arms in the air. Kuki looked around the room, not understanding what was going on. She looked at Zoro, Sanji and Luffy, who all had the same oblivious look on their faces that she had on hers.

"Bastard!" the captain jumped, just remembering what happened. His fist went up as if he was going to hit someone, but Franky caught Luffy's face in his hand, stopping him. "My shadow!" he screamed his voice a little muffled. "Calm down! Moria isn't even here!" the shipwright explained, not letting go of his captain until he realized that. Zoro's hand went to his face, his memory also coming back slowly. The swordsman looked down at Kuki, and then to the floor, sighing as if he was trying to work something out in his head. Sanji's eyes un-glazed themselves, and he looked around the room, a chopstick still lodged in his one nostril. "W-where are we?" The tiny girl asked. Robin looked down at her with a raised eyebrow, "The Thousand Sunny." "Why are we back here?" Zoro asked, standing up as well as hitting the back of Sanji's head so the chop stick fell out. "Well thanks- I mean what the hell was that for!" the cook yelled with shark like teeth, fuming at the swordsman.

"I was helping you out! You Baka Love-Cook!" Zoro screamed back, pressing his face dangerously close to Sanji's. "You wanna fight about it!" the cook asked, lighting the smoke that he had just put in his mouth from his rage. "Stop!" Kuki yelled, staring down at the floor in fear as she arose. Both of the guys froze, Zoro having his sword out and Sanji's foot against it. "It…wasn't a dream…" the tiny girl whispered. "What wasn't Kuki-Tan?" Sanji swooned, clasping his hands together and 'spinning' his way over towards her. "My shadow is gone!" she screamed, pointing at the place where her shadow was supposed to be. Both men paused to look down as well, only to see that their shadows were gone as well. "Guys this is horrible!" Luffy yelled, bursting threw the door with a large chunk of cheese and crackers. "What could be worse then having your shadow taken and Nami missing?" Franky asked, waiting for more bad news. "Nami-Swan's missing?" Sanji screamed, dropping his cigarette.

"All the foods gone!" the captain cried, stuffing his face full of cheese and crackers. "But…Captain-Kun…you're eating food now…" Robin offered, pointing to the food currently in his hands. "There's no meat!" Luffy stated, looking as if the world was about to end. "This is so…dishonourable." Zoro groaned, face palming himself. "Damn right that was dishonourable! You let Moria take Kuki-Tan's shadow!" Sanji screamed, trying to fight with the swordsman again. "Shut up! I let my shadow get taken away! Okay? We shouldn't be fighting, we have to find Nami and get our shadows back." Kuki yelled, raising her voice higher then anyone else's as well as rubbing her temples to keep calm. "Nami-Swan! Where is she!" the cook remembered, running around in a frantic state. "About that…she was kind of…kidnapped…" Ussop and Chopper explained, twirling their feet in circles on the floor. "She was kidnapped! Why didn't you chase them to the ends of the earth!" Sanji screamed, grabbing the sharpshooter by the collar and lifting him up to his height.

"Sorry! We're not crazy like you! It's not like we didn't try!" Ussop apologized, curling up into a ball as the cook fumed. "Who and where is he? I'll go get her now." Sanji asked slowly, staring into the sharpshooter's soul as he did. "Wait, we need to focus on objectives." Robin offered with an emotionless smile. "Food, Nami and shadows." Luffy stated, holding up a finger for all three. "That's an interesting order to put them in…" Franky mumbled, leaning against the wall. "We better be fast with saving Nami, that guy is going to marry her." Chopper added, hiding behind Ussop. "M-marriage! Are you joking? Unforgivable!" the cook yelled at the top of his lungs, bursting into flames. The crew watched, shielding their eyes from the heat and brightness, as Sanji ranted, walking back and forth on fire. "The invisible guy must be brave to want to marry Nami." Luffy laughed before forcing more cheese into his mouth.

"Luffy you have to beat your Zombie too! It's huge, bigger then a giant!" the doctor cried, trying to explain to the crew how hard these 'objectives' were really going to be. "I'm a giant!" the captain repeated with twinkling eyes. "And Sanji's a penguin like dog thing…" Ussop added, noticing that the cook wasn't paying any attention at all anyway.

"So, we know Luffy's and the Love-Cook's Zombies…" the swordsman pointed out, lazily placing an arm over the hilts of his swords. "And I saw Zoro's Zombie!" the captain smiled, actually participating in the conversation. "What was he like?" Kuki wondered, thinking that it was kind of funny. Luffy placed his hand under his chin, scratching at it as he thought. "Hm, he kind of felt like him…but since he was wearing wooden shoes I knew that it wasn't Zoro." The captain answered smiling. "Well whatever…" the first mate mumbled, not wanting to hear about his Zombie, "If we find all of them and feed them salt our shadows will come back?"

"Yes, exactly." Franky answered, nodding his head. The entire crew worked their way out to the 'lawn' deck, deciding on what they were going to do. Ussop rushed over and sat on a table, pulling out stuff and working on it. "How did you find such a weakness?" Kuki asked, sitting down to rest, she still felt drained. "That skeleton guy saved us and told us about the salt." The shipwright explained, leaning against the mast. "What! You met Brook?" Luffy screamed, happy to hear that 'his' musician was alright. (Fast Forward past the talk about Brook and Laboon (sorry I just don't want to get into that)) Franky started crying, so much that his nose started dripping as well. "I love Boney and the whale!" he yelled in between sobs, so overwhelmed by the story that Kuki couldn't help but smile. "Shut it!" Zoro, Sanji and Ussop ordered, plugging their ears. "I'm so excited! He's a musician, a talking skeleton, has an afro and is Laboon's Nakama! I'm defiantly making him part of our crew!" the captain laughed, "Any complaints?"

Everyone sighed, except for the two girls and Franky, who was still weeping. "If we did would you change your mind?" Robin asked, smiling. "I don't mind, he seems nice." Kuki said, smiling as well. "Complete approval!" the cyborg cried out, pushing down his glasses to cover his eyes as he still had tears running down his face. "Me too! I'm not afraid of skeletons!" Chopper added, starting to weep as well. "Before something so easy…I have to stop Nami-Swan's Wedding!" Sanji screamed, turning back into his flame rage self. Kuki looked down and saw that Zoro was walking down on the dock, off the ship. "Zoro-Kun, where are you going!" she yelled out, trying to get his attention so he would answer. "Well, the number of shadows we have to save has gone up by one, so I'm going to go help Brook." He smirked, making Luffy smile as he saw everyone of his Nakama agreed with him.

The tiny girl jumped down off of the Thousand Sunny, joining the swordsman on the dock. "I'm going to come with you, since you're going to get yourself lost if you go by yourself." She teased, poking him in the arm. "I don't get lost…" Zoro mumbled a little red in the face. "And I'll come with you two; I need to help my Bones-Bro." Franky sniffled, wiping away the last of his tears. Kuki nodded and smiled up at him, and then back at her Captain. "I'll save Nami-Swan!" the cook stated, fuelling his fire even more by just thinking about the so called 'wedding'. "Well, I'm going to go kick Moria's ass, I'll leave Nami to you Sanji." Luffy said, cracking his knuckles. "Damn right! Invisible man, divisible man, I don't care! As if I'd let this happen!" the blonde ranted, with every sentence his fire growing in heat. "Oh and he saw Nami bathing." Chopper and Ussop added, wanting to see how mad the cook could get.

"What!" Sanji screamed, his skin turning red as well as his cigarette burning completely to the filter. The Straw Hats all took a step away from Sanji, the heat getting unbearable. "Don't add fuel to the fire, he's kind of eccentric…" Zoro said, as they all watch the blonde go on another rant. "I'll go with Sanji, Nami seems more important at the moment." Robin explained to Luffy. "Same here…and I don't want to see that Shichibukai again." Ussop shuddered from memory. The tiny doctor nodded his head in agreement with what the sharpshooter had just said, hiding behind the archaeologist's leg. "Yosh! Everyone prepare for the counterattack!" Luffy laughed, throwing his one fist into the air, "We're going to blow down Thriller Bark!" "Yeah!"


	27. Chapter 27

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, just telling you this chapter has nothing to do with the current story (Ok maybe a bit, but it's just a cute chapter I wanted to write that involves only Zoro and Kuki time, I've been feeling I haven't had much 'them' time in a while…so here ya go) Thank you for all the reviews! And to 'XxXx' I'm sorry about my character, I'll evolve her more? D: Thank you for reading! 3**

Kuki exhaled, watching as the sun dipped farther down in the water. The sky was clear, minus the small smudges of gray from the clouds splattered here and there, but all together it was a nice night. Her hand traveled up her arm, trying to warm up a bit as the temperature dropped along with the sun. She looked around the room, the shiny metal of the weights gleamed in the low twilight. 'Why do I come up here?' Kuki asked her self, already knowing the answer. 'Because this is his room, this place smells and feels of him…and for some reason that comforts me.' The tiny girl admitted, grabbing a pillow as she laid down her head down on the cushions. Kuki was waiting, because no matter how much she would deny herself, the girl knew, a hundred percent that he would come up here. Like every other time Zoro would climb up, to either train or find Kuki, and that was what bothered her, the fact that she didn't know and that she was too scared to ask.

Kuki curled her toes as she stretched out on the seat, her eyes beginning to droop. The tiny girl fought her mind for consciousness, feeling the need to stay awake, to wait for the swordsman to climb his way up here, to feel him near. But how long had it been since she slept, since she had rested? Too long, Kuki's eyes closed, defeated, and for moments before she drifted off, the blonde listened to her Nakama down on the deck, felt the waves rocking her slowly and finally retreated to sleep. (Zoro's POV) The swordsman climbed his way to the top of the Crows Nest, knowing what that room would contain, but not understanding his reasoning to go up there. He huffed a sigh as he stopped at the top, right underneath the latch that would allow him entry, but for some reason, every time he was going to come up to the crows nest; he would wait before entering, as if to catch his breath.

'What am I doing?' Zoro scorned himself, 'you're acting like a little boy…it's my place…I shouldn't have to wait out here as if to ask for entry…' he carried on, still staying out side. As the swordsman placed his hand on the bottom of the doorway, to push it up and open, his heart sped. Alone once again, with Kuki…this room wasn't even his anymore, the green haired man just hadn't come to terms with it yet. The tiny girl would always be up here, curled in the corner as he stayed at watch or trained. So much so that Zoro didn't feel right being up in that room without the blue eyed girl stationed in the corner. Sometimes they wouldn't even talk, they'd just enjoy the silence and nap, just how the swordsman enjoyed it. Others, the two would bug each other a bit, but recently Kuki wouldn't talk to him, not even look most of the time. He knew something was wrong, but he hadn't had the opportunity to ask…that or he was too afraid of what the answer might be.

Finally, Zoro pulled himself up into the crows nest. Looking around the room until he found what he was searching for. There, in her usually spot, was Kuki, shivering from the cold as she slept. "Baka…" the swordsman whispered, creeping up to the girl. 'Why are you up here in your pyjamas?' he asked in his head, peeling off his shirt as he laid it on her shivering body. Kuki sighed in pleasure as soon as the heat from Zoro's, still warm, white, oversized shirt settled down on her, almost covering the tiny girl's entire body. "Zoro-Kun…" the blonde mumbled, reaching out for him in her sleep. The swordsman froze, cheeks flaming, as he watched her tiny hands curl around the leg of his pants, not wanting him to go. Her finger grasped at the fabric, holding him so Zoro couldn't get too far away. Not having any option, the green haired man sat down next to her, pulling the girl onto his lap as she slept silently. "You don't take care of yourself…" Zoro muttered to no one.

Darkness had finally taken over the Thousand Sunny, with the moon sending a silvery splash of light threw the windows. It seemed to shine off of Kuki's hair, forcing the swordsman to run his fingers threw it, almost petting the girl like a cat. 'She is a cat…' Zoro decided, connecting her personality with the animal, 'a human cat of some sort…' Her face looked calm and peaceful, more so then any time during the day when she was awake. "Zoro-Kun…" Kuki said again, looking up at him with her bright, blue eyes. When did she wake up? The swordsman froze, his hand still with silky, strands of blonde in between the fingers. "Y-ya, what?" he asked back, turning his face away as he blushed again. 'Why am I blushing?' Zoro screamed in his head. "This crew…why did you join it?" Kuki asked, still gazing up at him as her head laid on his lap.

The swordsman felt kind of relaxed thinking back to the day he met Luffy, his, now, captain. "I was going to be executed…Luffy stopped it, and offered me a place as his first Nakama. I couldn't die yet, I needed to complete my dream, partially for me and partially for K-" Zoro stopped himself. 'For Kuina…why couldn't I say that?' the swordsman wondered. "For who?" Kuki asked, cuddling in closer to the warmth of his body. "A girl I used to know…Kuina." Zoro finally answered, thinking back to his child hood. Then a thought struck him, how alike were Kuina and Kuki? So much so that it poked at his heart. They both had potential, and they both felt inferior, but Kuki had different reasoning then Kuina had, didn't she? "Why do you think you're so weak?" the first mate prodded, needing an answer.

The tiny girl's body tensed, and then relaxed moments later. "I'm getting saved all the time, what happens if there's a time where I have to save one of you guys? I need to be strong for that…I'd…break if anything happened to you and I couldn't do anything…" Kuki admitted, surprised with herself for being so forward. Zoro felt relieved, but hurt at the same time. The feeling for Kuina resurfaced, and after realising the difference between the two girls it left him a little upset for some reason. 'Kuina's gone… there's nothing I can do about that…'


	28. Chapter 28

"Crash!" the loud noise made Franky, Kuki and Zoro stop. The bridge above them shattered, sending large bits of stone down on the three. Among the mess were Zombies, Ussop and Sanji. "I'm falling!" the sharpshooter yelled, flapping his arms around as if he was trying to fly. Kuki saw the other half of the bridge starting to fall, so he place both hand above her head, "Kaze Kaze no Wind Shield!" the tiny girl yelled, trying to protect herself from the falling stone. "Guys!" Chopper screamed, looking over the edge from the un-broken part of the bridge. He, along with Robin, managed to not get caught in the mess with Sanji and Ussop. The dust from all the stone created heavy cover, not allowing the doctor to see his Nakama yet. Kuki's arms dropped down, having done their job in protecting her, she bent down and coughed. "Let's not worry about the two that just fell down…what is this thing?" Zoro asked, ignoring the figures of his two Nakama that had lodged themselves into the floor.

Franky pulled out a comb and started brushing all his stray strands of hair back in place, "Now our path is blocked, what is with this wall?" "What wall?" Kuki asked, in between coughs, so much dust had found its way into her lungs. The tiny girl turned and then understood what they were talking about. In front of them where the hallway had been, was now a red wall, reaching from side to side, filling up the entire space. "Dammit! What was that?" the cook yelled, brushing off his clothes that were now dusty and torn. "Ow, ow, ow, ow…" Ussop ranted, rubbing his head as he sat up. The sharpshooter's eyes widened when he saw the 'wall'. "Kuki-Tan, my Angel, are you alright!" Sanji swooned, making sure there was not a bruise on her body. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She promised, sweat dropping when the cook looked over at the swordsman. "If anything happened to Kuki-Tan, I would have fried you Marimo-Head." Sanji grumbled, trying to warn the green-haired man.

But Zoro wasn't listening, he drew one of his swords and stuck it into the wall, pulling it back out with a puzzled look on his face, "It's not rock…" Kuki looked at the wall, really looked at it, something felt…'off'. "Weapon's left!" Franky said, aiming down the sight built in his hand. Soon after a large explosion went of, and after the clouds left the 'wall' nothing was different. "What? No effect?" the cyborg mumbled, not knowing what else to do. "What are you guys doing!" Ussop yelled, scared out of his mind. "What's wrong?" Kuki asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction. "Well this wall kinda appeared…" Zoro started to explain. "Baka, that's not a wall!" the sharpshooter said, cutting the swordsman off, "That's Luffy's Zombie!" And after that, all of the crew member's heads turned upwards, meeting the gaze of a huge, devil like, Zombie, more then twice the size of a normal giant. "O-oh m-my g-god!" Kuki stuttered, bring the first to speak. "That's a Zombie!" Franky asked, astonished along with every other member, minus Ussop since he had already seen this 'other' Luffy.

"It's over, it's all over! He's come to kill us!" the sharpshooter wept, crying uncontrollably. The extremely large Zombie turned, looking at the crew as if this was the first time he had noticed them. The undead creature raised both his hands, up above his head. Ussop screamed and hid behind a large piece of stone, everyone else took a defensive stance, preparing for the Zombie's next move. Even Kuki, who had her hands aiming at the monster's face. Instead of trying to kill the Straw Hat's, the Zombie reached down an grabbed the large, chunk of stone that Ussop was hiding behind, placing it on his head like a captain's hat. Everyone stared in awe, wondering what he was doing, everyone but the sharpshooter, who was running in circles screaming for his life. "This is great." The Zombie Luffy cheered, happy that he had found such a great pirate hat. "Huh?" the crying member asked, stopping as he finally realised there was no threat to his life, at the moment. "Alright! I'm in a good mood now!" Luffy number two screamed, shaking the bridge with his voice, almost making Kuki fall.

The Zombie then turned and stomped away, "I'm going to be the Rotten Pirate King!" Leaving the crew shocked as they stood there for a few moments, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Zoro sheathed his swords, "He really was talking Luffy-like…with that body and Luffy's fighting strength, he's bad news…" the swords man muttered bring everyone else out of their dream like state. " No kidding…" Sanji added, pulling out a smoke. (Fast Forward ten minutes) "How are we supposed to go forward?" Kuki wondered out loud, sighing as she sat down on the ground. "Kuki-Tan, are you tired? Do you nee to rest? I'll give you a piggy back if you need one my Angel!" Sanji yelled with heart shaped eyes and a tornado for legs. The swordsman's teeth grinded together as he listened to the cook, images of him slicing the man up ran threw his head. "No, I just want to sit…" Kuki mumbled, looking up at, what was, the sky, all she could see was fog and more fog.

"Even if we try and go back, the bridge above id broken as well, those were the only two ways into Moria's Mansion…" Ussop explained, sitting down beside the blonde girl as he thought, "I guess we can't go!" he laughed, holding a finger in the air. "No!" Sanji and Zoro said at the same time, both hitting him across the head. "Just wait 30 seconds!" Franky said, hammering away. Everyone turned to see the cyborg inspecting a brand new bridge that had just connected them to their destination. "I'm not quite satisfied with the finish…" Franky muttered, sliding his hand on the railing. "He built a bridge!" the three guys yelled, staring at him. It was quite nice, with a wooden bottom, and stone railings on either side, the shipwright had even taken the time to add detail into the stone. "There was enough rubble lying around to make a bridge or two." Franky smiled, reasonably happy with his work.

"Let's go!" Sanji yelled, running alongside Kuki, Zoro and Ussop across the bridge. "Hey, wait, I was going to show you guys…never mind." The shipwright muttered, running soon after to catch up with them. The five of them opened the door and finally entered the other Mansion, running inside the hallway to make up for lost time. Just up ahead of them was a doorway, all of the Straw Hat's busted threw it at the same time, coming to a screeching stop. This room was like a child's, but creepy at the same time, with ton's of stuffed animals, pillows, and other soft, cute objects laying around. "What is this room?" Sanji asked looking around. "This room must belong to someone quite pompous…" Zoro added. Suddenly, the room filled with 'negative' ghosts, and the sound of a sickening laugh. "I intended to have all of you fall victim to the Zombies at the bridge, but it seems a big nuisance entered my plan." Perona stated, not even looking at the part of the crew that had entered her room. She sat on a throne like chair, twirling her red umbrella in her hands.

"Those ghosts, could she be the one controlling them?" Kuki asked, watching as they all flew around the girl, as if she was one of them. The pink haired girl stood up, facing the Straw Hats as she placed her hands on her hips. "It seems you have already come to see the ghost as fearsome as they are." Perona laughed. Everyone glare at her, she was making them sound weak and scared. Little white globs flew out of her hands, soon transforming into more 'negative' ghosts. "With the powers from the Horo Horo no Mi, I've become a spirit woman!" she smirked, having a fun time explaining her power, "These ghost's are my clones, they hollow out a person's soul." Ussop swallowed, scared of this girl's powers. "To think the one controlling the ghosts was that Cutie-Chan!" Sanji sobbed, hating when he was against attractive girls. "Like this is the time! If we're hit by one, we'll be annihilated!" the sharpshooter screamed, trying to knock some sense into the cook.

"We've got no choice but to run!" Franky screamed, turning around as if to run back the way they had came. Kuki and Zoro stood they're ground, knowing that running away was pointless, if they had a chance it was to try and fight the 'Ghost Woman'. "Run!" Ussop yelled, starting back down the hall along with Sanji and the cyborg. "Negative Hollow!" Perona smiled, sending the ghosts in the crew's direction. The first one hit the swordsman, no matter what he did, the green haired man couldn't block the ghost from hollowing him. He dropped to his knees in depression, "I'm sorry that I have been treading upon the same earth as everyone else…" Scared, Kuki tried to join the others in running. 'Just dodge this one…' she told herself, but failed. Soon after the swordsman, the next 'negative' ghost flew threw Kuki, making her fall back onto the floor, facing the ceiling. The blonde girl covered her face in shame. "I'm the most worthless person in the entire world…" she mumbled, feeling lower then low. Finally three ghosts caught up with Ussop, Sanji and Franky, stopping them as well.

"My existence is lower then a dead fish…" Sanji whispered, his hair covering his face as he sobbed. "That's right…I should be reborn as a stray dog!" the cyborg cried, tears flowing from his face. "Capture them." Perona ordered, as her animal Zombies all entered the room. "Yes." They replied, nodding their heads. All of the stitched together animals charged towards the depressed crew, arms wide open to capture them. "Midareuchi Salt Star!" Ussop screamed, jumping up as he shot salt after salt into the Zombie's mouths, cleansing them. "What?" the pink haired girl screamed, watching as some of her animals fell to the ground, shadow-less. "I won't let you lay a hand on my Nakama!" Ussop stated, glaring at the 'Ghost Girl'. She gasped, wondering why he wasn't depressed. "Damn, wasn't he hit?" Perona asked, sending more ghosts at the sharpshooter. Another negative ghost hit Ussop, making him stumble a bit backwards, but nothing like the rest of his crew. "What! What trick are you using?" she ordered, commanding an answer. Ussop slammed his large slingshot on the ground, "It's no trick...I'm just…already negative!"


	29. Chapter 29

**Author's note: Hey! Finally! I got internet! Muahahahahahahahahaha! Are you as happy as I am? :D … maybe not, but anyway, as promised, I am NOT ending this story, I love it too much. SO…here is the next chapter and if you don't understand the ending part (aka Ryuma/Zoro/Kuki/Flare) then please read "Monsters" by Eiichiro Oda (written in 1994) it has Ryuma in it (before he became a Zombie, basically while living) and (to me) he looks a LOT like Zoro (minus the green hair) and you will understand the whole Ryuma/Zoro Flare/Kuki thing. Thank you for listening to my little rant and I hope you enjoy this chapter! 3 love you all and I'll love you more if you review 3**

Kuki struggled to pull herself from the grip of the depression that consumed her, slowly, ever slowly; she could feel the hold it had on her slipping. As if she was swimming towards the surface of murky water, closing in on the top. All of the other guys seemed to be coming back to normal as well, pulling themselves to their feet. "Now snap out of it you guys!" the self proclaimed 'Captain', ordered, "We have to hurry and save the rest of our Nakama!" Each crew mate, who was still a bit tainted with the hollow feeling, lifted their head a bit, realizing that they had a job to do. "You guys, your powers mean nothing against her. So I'll take care of her." Ussop added with a touch of odd courage. Kuki stood up, along with Franky, Sanji and Zoro, who all had their mouths hanging wide open. Was this actually their sharpshooter? "But-" the tiny girl started to protest, not wanting to leave Ussop here alone to fight. "Just go!" he yelled, taking an offensive pose, facing Perona.

"Come on!" the swordsman yelled, grabbing a hold of Kuki's arm as the four of them started to run down the hall. "Thanks! We'll leave everything up to you!" Sanji screamed back, just as they entered a new room. "W-wait, w-what? I was j-joking!" the sharpshooter tried to say, calling out to the Nakama that were already gone. "I won't show you any more mercy" (Fast Forward a few minutes) "Up ahead!" Kuki added, following the thin white line to the end of the hallway. Zoro and Franky had been counting on her to show them the way to the skeleton ever since Sanji left in a flaming blaze of anger to go save Nami. The clash of fine metal rang threw out the building, so obvious to where it was coming from that Kuki didn't really need to point out the way anymore, but with Zoro…you never know. Suddenly, the blonde girl could see the doorway that opened to the room which Brook was in.

Franky busted in first, scanning the area until he found his target, "Found him, oi skeleton guy! Are you ok?" the cyborg asked, kneeling down by Brook. The musician showed obvious signs of a lost fight, a missing tooth, a long, web like crack on his skull and torn clothing, not that his clothes were in perfect condition in the first place… "Why are you guys here…?" the skeleton asked, looking from Franky to Kuki, who was standing just behind the shipwright, feeling bad for Brook. The cyborg knelt down to take a look at the musician's injuries. "Now, now…this will not do. Interacting with the defeated is!" the ancient samurai started to say, unsheathing his sword. Kuki gulped in fear as she could feel the power radiating off the Zombie, this creature was the old casing of a, once great, man. Ryuma charged at Franky, sword out and ready. "Not so fast!" Zoro smirked, blocking the Zombie's attack. The samurai's face showed signs of surprise at the first mate's sudden defence.

"Are you that Legendary Samurai who slayed a dragon?" Zoro asked, shadows falling across his face while he did, "If so… I wanted to meet you." Kuki, Franky and Brook all stared at the two swordsmen, struggling to prove whose strength would prevail. After a few seconds, Ryuma retracted his sword back as if to slash again, forcing Zoro to draw out his second sword to deflect. The Zombie then seemed to float back to the other side of the room, creating a nice, sizable bit of space between the two. "Amazing…he pushed Ryuma off…who is he?" the musician muttered, obviously in pain. "He's a martial, Santouryuu pirate swordsman. He's quite strong. If your pride allows it, will you let Zoro get your shadow back?" Franky almost laughed, putting his complete faith in the first mate. "My shadow? Really? Please, I beg of you, somehow get my shadow back." Brook begged, staring at the back of the green haired man.

"Shut the hell up!" Zoro ordered, glancing back at the three for a moment. "Ah!" the skeleton screamed before his head fell limp. "Brook! What happened?" Kuki yelled, scared that the, already dead sailor, had passed on again for the second time. When the blonde girl talked, Ryuma looked at her, as if it was the first time he had noticed his presence. "Flare?" the ancient samurai asked out loud, eye sockets wide with surprise. For a second the, tiny, blonde haired girl transformed into the tall, slender, brown haired girl from the Zombie's past, the sight flashing quickly before his eyes. "Pay attention to me! I'm your enemy, not her!" Zoro ordered, charging at the Zombie. The swordsman did not like the way he was looking at Kuki. "W-what?" Kuki asked, wondering how she got pulled into the conversation. The two hit swords again, sending a clear ring threw out the room, and then bounced away from each other.

"Your Katana looks to be quite the feat." Zoro hinted, smirking evilly. Ryuma laughed as the island/boat started to shake again, no help to Luffy's Zombie, "You've got good eyes, this is indeed one of the 21 great swords. The Meitou, Shuusui!" Kuki watched as the blade shimmered in the light, seeming as if it was gleaming at her. "I've come across a good thing…I knew you would have a good sword, since you call yourself a samurai, but I didn't think it would be this great." The swordsman grinned, happy to have found another great sword for himself, since his last sword was rusted to the hilt back when he was saving Kuki, "All right…I'm gunna use that Katana." "Aw! You're too cool!" Brook sang out, coming back from his unconsciousness. "Brook! Is there anything you need?" the tiny girl asked, a little bit relieved. "Why yes, one thing would help me…" the skeleton offered, placing his head on the girl's lap. "What, water, food, medical attention?" Kuki pressed, trying to help her new friend. "Could you show me you panties?"

The helmsman pushed Brook's head away from her, and crossed her arms disgusted. "Kuki? What are you doing Skeleton-Bro is hurt!" Franky freaked, trying to help the poor skeleton. "He's fine." She huffed, crossing her arms in defiance. "Yohohoho, how harsh!" the musician laughed, still lying on the floor. Zoro and Ryuma kept slashing at each other, striding forward and then, moments later, bouncing away, shredding up the room during their battle. Whenever the two got too close to the other three, Zoro would direct the clashing in another direction, trying to keep his friends safe. Suddenly the Zombie paused, bringing his sword back as if he was going to swing a bat. "Duck!" the green-haired man ordered, placing his sword in a defensive position. Seconds later, Ryuma flung his blade in a sweeping matter, cutting the entire room, making the top of the building fall off…right where Franky's and Kuki's head would've been.

"Zoro-Kun!" the tiny girl screamed, rushing to the edge of the building where the swordsman had been flung. His body crashed into a side roof almost half way down the top of the huge tower, hitting so hard that an imprint of his body was permanently placed into the tiling. Fretting, Kuki tried to climb, the newly place, side of the stone fence around them where the walls used to be. Just as she was about to get over, the cyborg grabbed her tiny frame and pulled her away. "Trust Zoro-Bro, and what was your plan, to fall down and create more problems for us?" Franky asked, holding the squirming girl away from the edge. Ryuma stepped over the area that Kuki had just been saved from, the crew froze, the Zombie was on fire…he was producing a powerful, lightning blue, flame surrounding his entire, undead, body.

After staring down Kuki he moved his attention to the swordsman who was currently lying still. Zoro still hadn't moved from his landing, dust still billowing off his body. "Zoro! Get up!" Kuki screamed, fighting, once again, against the shipwright's hold. "I said get up!" Tears started falling from her blue eyes, streaming down her face. "Why are you trying so hard?" The zombie asked, staring down the tiny girl. "Because he's my friend, and he has saved me before." finally Franky realized her. Kuki brushed of her arms and took a step towards the ancient Samurai. "If you still want to fight him then…" the girl pulled up her leather gloves, making them tight against her hands, "Then your fight is with me." Ryuma started chuckling and jumped down from his perch on the side, walking towards her. "Flare, you really should know your limits." The zombie laughed, brushing her offer off. "Flare? My name's Kuki, and I'm being serious. Zoro has saved me on many accounts, now it's my turn."

"Stop talking nonsense…Baka." Zoro strained, standing on the broken stone. All three swords were drawn now, and his signature bandana was wrapped securely around his head. "…Zoro-Kun?" Kuki muttered, happy as well as upset that now he was continuing the fight. The teen was obviously hurt and drawn, could he really defeat this guy? After that thought the tiny girl mentally slapped herself. Of course he could, he was Zoro, the guy who has beaten way worse. How could she have doubted him? "Fine but the next one's mine."


	30. Chapter 30

**Author's Note: Hey! :3 Sorry about being so late but I hope you enjoy this Chapter! Lefay-Strent Drew a picture of Kuki and I love it so if anyone else wants to give it a try then go ahead! Just explain that it is my OC and give me a link! I would love to see all of the different ways people see my character! 3 :D well please review and enjoy! (P.S at the end there's a little reminder of a previous chapter I wonder how many of you will catch it ;D )**

"Aubade Coup Droir!" Ryuma yelled, slashing forward with his blade, trying to pierce Zoro's face. The first mate threw his head back, watching as a few blades of green hair fluttered down. The force from the attack took out all of its anger on the building, shaking the stone to its core. Kuki fell to her knees and palms, trying desperately to stabilize herself. Zoro straightened himself up, smiling with the bloodlust obvious in his eyes. "What was that?" Franky yelped, still holding onto the musician. "A thrust…but even when I do that it isn't to that capacity!" Brook added with wide…sockets. The cyborg swallowed, "For that type of strength in a thrust…what type of muscle does he have?" "Hahahahaha…" Ryuma chuckled, placing the dull side of his katana on his shoulder. The girl looked up to see both of the swordsmen staring each other down. The dust was beginning to settle but the atmosphere around the pair was just as thick as ever.

The first mate put away his swords, for now. "It seems as if we have a tie." The zombie added, shocking the other three people on the 'new' roof, who had been forgotten. "Seems so." Zoro agreed, his hands opening and clenching, anxious to draw blood. 'Wait…how is that a tie…Ryuma blasted a hole-' Suddenly the, last remaining part, of wall behind the Samurai Zombie shattered into many tiny pieces, leaving nothing behind. "What!" Franky and Brooke both screamed, mouths stretching open as far as they possibly could. "You almost sliced me in half!" Ryuma joked, shaking his head as the 'half' wall behind him completely disappeared. "When did…when did Haramaki-Dude have any time to counter attack?" the shipwright pondered out loud, his jaw still slack. Kuki just smiled, sighing in relieve when her body finally relaxed, Zoro had this. The cyborg and the skeleton started talking amongst themselves, leaving the blonde girl in her hypnotic stage. The way Zoro's chest rose with every breath, his muscles straining under the stress off the battle, as well as the sweat glistening sliding down his tanned skin.

But most of all, that devilish smirk stretched across his face. That was the most attractive thing Kuki found on the swordsman, you didn't see it often. That smile showed passion, even if it was for violence; it still proved that Zoro had emotions. Kuki watched as the two fought, charging and slashing in such an evil elegance that it looked as if the two were participating in a dance. Suddenly the both of them stopped, after charging at each other, in a deadly silent pause. Soon after the building got cut apart, and without Kuki noticing, the stone floor underneath her dropped. "Ah!" the tiny girl yelped, scrambling to grab onto something, anything. Her fingers caught the ledge and she hung on for dear life, not daring to look down. Franky grabbed the hurt musician and jumped to a stable area, where the floor underneath them wasn't crumbling. Zoro and Ryuma didn't falter once, running along the edges and slanted stone to attack each other.

The girl, not wanting to interrupt, tried pulling her self up, only to get the stone under her left hand to give way, forcing her to look down…while hanging on by one hand. Kuki froze, paralyzed with fear, it was so high up. "Neko-Chan! Don't just stay there, pull yourself up!" the shipwright yelled, urging the tiny girl to snap out of it. "Neko-Chan! That's not my name!" Kuki huffed, Franky's plan working temporarily, but only shortly…soon after the girl's fear took over her senses again. "Kuki!" Zoro shouted, trying to go after her before she fell, but the Zombie blocked the First Mate, not allowing the green-haired man to take another step in that direction. Zoro had to put his full concentration on his current opponent. "No, don't worry about me! I'm fine!" the blonde yelled back, forcing herself to reach her free hand and grab the edge of stone again. The swordsman grunted and pushed the Zombie back; with too much force it actually was sending the First Mate down the slanted roof.

"Watch out, you'll fall!" Brook warned, watching the swordsman slide past him. Zoro switched his feet starting to run along the slant to meet Ryuma half way. The Zombie jumped up and slashed down at the green-haired man, pushing him back. "Shit." Zoro mumbled, slamming his sword into the roof to stop him from falling off. As the two continued to battle Kuki tried to pull up one of her knees, just so she could get more leverage. Ryuma slashed at Zoro again, making the roof crumble even more. Franky and Brook gasped, expecting to see their swordsman in two, but the green-haired man had jumped out of the way, hanging from his Wado, that was currently stick in the tiling. Just as the dirt was about to settle he ripped his beloved sword out of the roof and started running to the peek of the, almost, destroyed building. The First Mate jumped, raising his sword high above his head as he started speeding down towards the Zombie. "Ittouryuu!" Zoro screamed, his target coming closer with every millisecond, "Hiryuu!"

Finally, the swordsman slashed down, creating a monster behind him, in the shape of a blue, flaming dragon. Ryuma charged at the creation in mid air, "Hannauta Sanchou." The Zombie whispered, grabbing a hold of the hilt. Both Zoro and the Samurai hit each other, flying off into different directions. Zoro went falling, directly in Kuki's area. The tiny girl hadn't worked her way up yet, since every time she tried to pull herself up more stone would crumble, and was watching helplessly as the First Mate's body was flying towards her. Ryuma coughed, having red liquid splatter into his white cloak. The Zombie looked questioningly at it before seeing the wound on his abdomen catch a flame. "It ignited itself?" "Zoro!" Kuki screamed, a second before his body crashed threw the little area of stone she had left. Soon, both of them were free falling. The blonde instinctively reached out for the teen, only to be pulled into his arms. Zoro held her securely on top of him, so when they hit she wouldn't get most of it. "Stop it! You can't be saving me all the time!" the girl yelled, squirming so that they would be on equal terms.

"Baka." And with that they slammed into the stone tiling above the entry way of the tower. Kuki's face flung forward, slamming against Zoro's chest and creating a horrible ringing noise. She raised her head as the world swayed around her, green, white, and a sword passed threw her sight. The swordsman was sprawled out, both arms away from the body, as if he was being crucified. "Kuki…" the teen struggled to say in between breaths. The tiny girl in front of him had a dazed look in her eyes, and she was swivelling back and forth, as if the world was tipping one way and then the next. "Kuki…" Zoro tried again, grunting and he grinded his teeth. The girl was sitting on top of the teen, right on his chest area. "Kuki!" This time the shouting worked, bringing life back into the Helmsman's eyes. "Wha…Zoro?" the blonde asked, confused as she looked down at him. "Can you…get off?" he huffed, struggling to breath.

Kuki wasn't heavy, no, he was just in pain. "Oh…oh! Yes of course!" she smiled sheepily, embarrassed at her late realisation. The tiny girl stood up and then fell back down, getting a head rush. "Ow." Zoro mumbled, having the girl still on him, not that he minded… Ryuma was panting, realizing his lose, now that his entire body was encased in fire…but it was different this time, the fire wasn't radiating off of him…it was engulfing the Zombie. The green-haired man was gasping for breath, Kuki was sitting on the poor teen, a knee on either side of his torso and a hand on each side of his head, the girl was just trying to wait for the world to stop spinning before she got up. The old Samurai walked over to the edge, peering down at Zoro while the flames ate away at his flesh. "The legendary Sword…if you are it's next master it is most likely the sword's wish as well…" the Zombie mumbled, sheathing the great Katana and holding it out in front of him, "Please, take care of it." Ryuma muttered, dropping the sword.

Kuki flinched as it came falling down at them, but with one hand Zoro reached out and caught the Katana, having a shadow playing across his face. "This body…of a Great Samurai…to have given it such a defeat…I feel so shameful." The flame covered Zombie added, turning around so he didn't face the two. Suddenly Zoro stood up, while having Kuki still on him, causing the girl to be awkwardly sitting on his crossed legs with her own wrapped around his torso…the girl blushed as Zoro balanced his new Katana upon his shoulder. "As long as you feel shame, it's enough. A swordsman needs a healthy spirit and body…" the First Mate stared explaining, not looking Kuki in the eye as she tried shrinking away, "I would have wanted to meet you in your era." And with that silence ensued, Zoro didn't move an inch, along with Ryuma, Kuki started blush greater, having her cheeks flame a cherry red, Franky was speechless, his mouth on the floor, and Brook was around the same as the cyborg, but with less skin. The Zombie let out some sort of yowling noise and a dark shape escaped his mouth, leaving the body on the floor motionless as it raced over to it's original owner, the musician.

"Is that…" the shipwright started to point out, looking at the shadow now at the skeleton's feet. "Exactly! This is the shadow Moria cut off five years ago!" Brook screamed, overjoyed with the fact of being able to see the sun again. He started doing all types of weird positions, like crab walking, bridge, and even floating, just to see how it looked on his shadow that was currently at his feet, where it belonged. "Kinda makes you miss yours, hey?" Kuki mumbled, watching the overjoyed pervert. "Hm…" Zoro mumbled, looking back at the burning body of his previous opponent, "I'll take the Katana, but let's forget the outcome of this battle, Samurai of Wano Country." Kuki sighed and started to stand up; the First Mate looked at her as if he had just noticed her presence. "Talking to your self are sure signs of going crazy." She joked, placing both hands on her hips. "Baka…" The swordsman muttered half heartedly, smiling up at the girl as he stood up. Kuki's heart fluttered, the man barely ever smiled, so she had to commit each one to memory. "Hold this." Zoro commanded, handing her the Katana he had just won. "Wait, why do I have to hold stuff for you?" Kuki asked, raising an eyebrow in defiance while she stuck out her tongue. "Last time I checked, I won that drinking bet back at Water 7, and I still get one full day with you as my slave. So hold it."


	31. Chapter 31

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait! Ah Forgive Me! T_T go check it out I have a few pictures up of Kuki anyone who wants to draw anything from my story go ahead! I'd love it and then message me the link But here is the next chapter! I hope you enjoy it leave me a review and the next chapter will come out sooner? Haha yup…well maybe…I'll try my hardest! Haha love you all!**

"Oi, did you feel that shaking right now?" Franky asked out loud, a worried look on his face. "Yes I felt it! This movement makes one's hair stand on end!" Brook yelped, "But I have no hair being a skeleton!" the musician's hand squished his afro a couple times, "Oh but I do, yohohoho!" "You jerk! I'm being serious!" the cyborg yelled, a couple of annoyed veins visible on his forehead. The skeleton just laughed, bouncing his afro a few more times. "Maybe you really want that thing torn off!" "Don't!" "Come here!" "Don't, please don't!" Zoro sat cross legged on the tiling, admiring the katana in Kuki's grasp, who was sitting opposite of him. His hands gingerly caressed the sheath as he smiled down at the weapon. 'He really has an appreciation of it…' the tiny girl thought, watching as he took in every nook and cranny the sword possessed. A smile reached her lips as well; the first mate looked like a child on Christmas morning. Suddenly a violent shake ripped threw the building, almost making Kuki loose her balance.

The green haired man's eyes flew up, straight in the direction where the havoc was. "What the?" the shipwright mumbled, taking his attention away from the musician for a moment. "I can clearly see that someone's coming…even though I'm a skeleton!" Brook tried again, laughing at his own joke. The cyborg flung his over sized arm out, knocking the musician to the ground. Zoro, swiftly, took the katana out of Kuki's hands and placed it in his Haramaki, along with his other most prized possessions. Without notice, a huge red fist sprinted out of the main castle's thick walls, the Zombie Giant's body following soon after. "Oh my…" the tiny blonde muttered, taking in the size of the monster. Brook's high pitch yell was ringing in her ears, but she didn't take notice. "It's Luffy's Zombie! And, look, there! Isn't that swirly-brow?" Franky screamed pointing at the giant's feet. Sure enough, there was Sanji, pulling himself up and out of the dusty mess that was, just now, polluting the ground.

The cook coughed a couple times, accompanied by some heavy breathing. "Shit!" Sanji swore, punching the slab of stone he was on, "Nami-san…" the cook mumbled threw grinding teeth. "What is he doing! That idiot cook!" Zoro asked, watching as the blonde man just sat there in front of the Zombie. "Sanji-Kun, get out of the way!" Kuki screamed, seeing how small her Nakama was compared to the beast. "Come out! Straw Hat Crew!" the Zombie screamed, raising his arms to the sky. The girl noticed the little papers secured on one of his fore arms…the bounty pages. She sucked in air as her eyes widened, they were the monster's targets. "That bastard…" the cook gasped, craning his neck back to get a good look at Luffy's Zombie, "Is he trying to get in our way?" "What is that thing?" Brook squealed, his jaw bone hanging low. "Is there even a way to beat it?" Franky wondered. "Sanji!" Kuki yelled again, trying to get the smoker's attention. Sanji turned and finally noticed her, "Kuki-Tan! Your safe!" he swooned, forcing the helmsman to face palm.

"Baka! Your in danger, get away from there!" she yelled, infuriated at the cook's complete lack of concern for his own safety. The swordsman behind the tiny girl rose without a sound, a dangerously big grin stretched across his face, "Interesting." The Zombie turned its big ugly face towards Kuki, making her entire body freeze over. He bent his head to check his arm and then looked up again. "'Wind Demon' Kuki, I found you!" the giant yelled before swinging his arm towards her. Still paralyzed, Zoro had to grab the girl and leap to where Franky and Brook were standing. "Dumbass, don't just sit there and let him kill you!" the swordsman screamed, angry at the fact that Kuki had almost gotten herself killed. "I'm sorry…I just wasn't prepared, he's so huge." The blonde girl mumbled embarrassed. "Don't talk to Kuki-Tan like that!" Sanji protested, glaring daggers at the First Mate. "Shut up!" Zoro argued back. "Wait a minute…" the tiny girl said, her eyes locked on some figure on the bridge still standing, "Ussop, is that you!"

The figure popped his head up and looked back and forth, searching, "K-Kuki, why are you on the roof? Zoro, Franky, and that creepy skeleton too, how did you guys get up there?" the sharpshooter wondered after finding the owner of the voice that was calling his name. "How harsh!" the musician laughed, taking a pause to his constant screaming. Robin and Chopper could be seen from behind Ussop as well. "You guys are all safe!" the doctor rejoiced. "For the time being anyway, but it doesn't seem like Nami-Chan is…" the archaeologist countered, turning to face were the cook was. Sanji jumped along the rubble, getting closer to the Zombie then farther away as Kuki had wanted. "Oi, move away from there!" he ordered, his angry face, half covered by blonde hair, glared down the monster, "What the hell do you think you are doing by interfering, Luffy?" The dust finally settled around the Giant, finally giving everyone a perfect view of him. "He's bigger then I originally thought." Zoro whispered threw his smile that had found its way back onto his face.

"Luffy?" the Zombie asked, tilting his head for affect, "He's my enemy, my name's Oz. Pleased ta' meet ya'." Sanji pulled out a smoke and lit it, taking a puff of his cigarette before he said anything, "Shut up. What do you mean 'pleased to me you'? Man…you're saying some strange stuff. Isn't he just like Luffy?" Kuki's mouth almost hit the floor, what was he thinking! "Sanji's…picking a fight with it…" Franky muttered, as if saying the words out loud was going to make them more understandable. "That idiot cook bastard. Isn't he supposed to be saving Nami?" Zoro said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The tiny girl placed her forehead into her palm, trying to understand the people she was with at the moment, "Dumb…all of you. I think I'm going to go insane." The swordsman raised an eyebrow in defiance, "Smile." He ordered. "What are you talking about! At a time like this? You can't just make someone smile you know!" Kuki yelled back, getting into the green-haired man's face.

"Sit and smile." Zoro stated, pronouncing each word clearly. 'He's really playing this whole slave thing up.' The girl thought before crossing her legs and sitting down. The teen placed a hand on the tiny girl's head. "Now where's that smile?" he teased. Kuki glared up at him and plaster her best, most sarcastic, grin on to her face. "There we go now stay put." Franky and Brook froze, watching the whole situation. "Is she the ship's slave?" the musician wondered. The cyborg was just about to answer the skeleton and hit him for being so stupid until Zoro intervened, "No, she's my pet cat." "Is the guy who got my shadow back crazy…or is it some sort of kinky role play…" Brook asked the shipwright, as if Kuki and the swordsman could hear. "To be honest…I don't really know anymore…" Franky answered, sweat dropping at the First Mate's casualness…was he insane? "No! That's not what it is!" The tiny girl screamed, scaring the skeleton into hiding behind the cyborg, "He won a bet and I have to be his slave for a day! That's all you Baka!"

"Did I say you could talk?" Zoro asked, smirking at the red faced girl. Kuki huffed and turned away from the swordsman, mumbling all types of things under her breath. Suddenly the sounds of crashing filled the air, hit after hit; the huge Zombie crashed his fists into the ground where Sanji was. Kuki froze, while they were all not paying attention, the cook of their boat could have been… "Man…you really made a fool out of me…especially in front of Robin-Chan and Kuki-Chan…Now it's my turn you shitty bastard!" Sanji said, as soon as Oz had stopped. Franky, Brook, and Kuki all let out a gasp of air in relief, and Zoro just smirked, secretly relieved as well. "This time I wont let you get away!" the Zombie sang, cracking his knuckles, "Gomu Gomu no…" he raised his hand high above his head. "But that's…" the girl muttered. "Did he become a rubber man as well!" the swordsman asked, even though he already knew no one knew the answer.

"Kama!" Oz finished, slamming his fist at the spot where the cook was, but at the last moment Sanji had jumped out of the way. "Tch, even if he didn't stretch, with that reach and strength it makes no difference." Franky pointed out. Kuki's body shivered, who could go against this…thing…it was bigger then a normal giant. "Seems like he doesn't just look like a brute…" Zoro added, his eyebrows dipping together in distaste. "If…any of us…get hit even once…" the girl started, not being able to finish her line of thought. "We'd be done for." Brook squealed, still, somewhat, cowering behind the cyborg. Sanji jumped away farther, finally realizing the amount of shit he actually was in…or at least that was what Kuki hoped the cook had realized. Oz started hitting the ground again as Sanji started sprinting off towards the Giant. "Dumbass!" The girl screamed, livid as the smoker leaped up, soaring threw the sky up towards the monster's neck. Zoro chuckled…actually chuckled a bit at Kuki's anger.

"Collier Frit!" Sanji called out, flinging his leg up. "No use!" Oz smirked, rejecting the attack by hitting the cook's foot with his forehead. "Get out of there!" the girl yelled again, but Sanji's fuel to his flame was too over powering…Nami was still in danger and this guy was blocking his path. The blonde teen was dodging every one of the Giant's attacks, until Oz got an idea. The monster stomped the ground, making Sanji lose his balance. The zombie used this time to catch him off guard and hit the cook, sending the cook flying back into the wall of a building far behind him. "Sanji!" Kuki screamed, running in his direction. The words Brook had said circled around her head, '_We'd be done for._', not making her think about the edge of the roof or how she was going to get down. The cook's body was free falling as Oz sped towards him, catching the smoker before he hit the ground. The girl held out her fist in front of her, pointing the metal parts on the knuckles of her gloves straight at the Zombie's head. "Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!"


	32. Chapter 32

**Author's Note: Hey two chapters in one day? Does that make up for the long wait? :D …probably not but I'm hopeful haha! Go check out my Deviantart account! Account name: caitlinLeP I got picture of Kuki and Zoro up and as always if you want to draw anything of my story go ahead I would love to see it! Just send me the link! Anyway enjoy the chapter! 3 I love reviews!**

"Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" Kuki yelled, sending a couple of her razors towards the Zombie's head. They all hit, but little to no blood came out, and it seemed as if Oz barely noticed the attack…until he turned to face her. Once again the dread made her blood run cold making her joints and muscles unmovable. The tiny girl hardly understood what had happened before the monster wrapped a hand around her body. "Let go of her you bastard!" Zoro ordered, pulling out a sword to slice at his hand, but before he knew it, Oz had pulled his arm back, dangling Kuki out in front of his eye. "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji called out, coughing after from the stress the Zombie was putting on his lungs. Unlike the cook, the helmsman was held right side up. "Ah! I caught myself a fairy! Haha!" Oz laughed, squeezing Kuki tighter. The tiny girl gritted her teeth, feeling her lungs constrict in on themselves. "And a little pipsqueak pirate! I think I wanna' keep the fairy though, maybe Moria-Sama would allow that!" the Zombie continued.

Both Sanji and Kuki only had their heads free, unable to move anything else. "Let her go you asshole! You have no right to even touch a lady!" the cook screamed, red in the face with either anger or with the lack of breath, maybe both. Oz just raised the smoker higher up, staring him in the face, "This isn't a lady this is a fairy." And with that the Giant gave him a finally, tight squeeze. "Sanji-Kun!" Kuki screamed, watching his head go limp as his consciousness dissipate. "Sh! Fairies aren't allowed to talk!" Oz yelled, giving the tiny girl a warning squeeze. Kuki gasped for air at the sudden lack of it. "Shit! They're going to die!" Zoro screamed, watching helplessly what the Giant was doing. The giant suddenly raised Sanji again, bring the man close to his one eye. "What are you gunna do, monster?" Franky muttered, itching to find a way to help his Nakama. Oz flung his arm up, as if he was going to throw the cook. "No!" Kuki yelped, not being able to get enough air to pull out a complete scream.

"Oi! Stop it!" the first mate bellowed. "Take this pipsqueak pirate!" the zombie said, just about to let go of Sanji. "Himotori Rosmi!" Ussop called out, shooting a flaming ball at the monster. The fire soon turned into a red, hot eagle, soaring straight into the Giant's head. The Zombie looked around his own face, seeing the flames as he turned towards Robin, Chopper and the sharpshooter, "That burns!" Ussop's jaw fell wide open, "I-I'm s-sorry!" As he took the step towards the three, Oz tossed Sanji's body into the ground, so hard that the cook's body went threw the layer of stone. "No!" Kuki yelled, trying, to thrash around. The Zombie didn't even notice the tiny girl; his eye was focused on the people on the bridge. "Ahhhh, Sanji!" Chopper hollered. Robin's eyes widened as she watched the dust settle around the area the cook's body had landed. "The dark haired woman…and there's defiantly a lil' animal." The giant mumbled, gazing down at his arm as he conformed two of the three people as part of the Straw Hat crew.

Oz started on his way towards the bridge, smiling all the while and swinging his arms along with his walk, seemingly to have forgotten about the blonde girl in his grip. "He's coming this way!" the doctor and Ussop screamed in unison. Zoro pulled out two of his swords, frustration set in his face, "This is bad, Franky draw him this way." The cyborg raised his arm; "Got it!" he replied turning and popping out his wrist, "take this monster!" The shipwright shot multiple times, all of them missing as the Giant dodged, pausing before turning himself around and charging at the, already heavily damaged, tower. Without notice, Oz jump kicked the building, smashing the little left crumble to the ground…along with Brook and Franky. But the First Mate had jumped up onto the leg that had knocked down the tower, running up along it with all three swords draw and in their place. "Zoro-Kun…" Kuki mumbled, watching the green-haired man run past her, but before he did, the man had given her a look.

A look that told her not to worry, that told the girl that he would save her…the only thing was that the blonde didn't know if she wanted to be saved or if she didn't…so she could save herself. "Ichi Gorilla. Ni Gorilla." Zoro said, leaping up off of the monster's chest and flying towards his face, "Santouryuu Nigorizake!" Kuki shut blinked and missed it, only seeing Oz's head flung back, the swordsman sailing threw the air and a large piece of the Giant's tooth/tusk falling to the ground. "Gomu Gomu no Kazan!" the Zombie bellowed, sending his foot up with such force…right were Zoro was. "No! No, stop! Let go, Zoro!" the girl scrambled, squirming with such force that she almost popped out her own shoulder. Oz looked down at her, as if he just remembered that Kuki was there. "You're an annoying Fairy." The Giant stated, tossing her aside as well. At first the tiny girl rejoiced, freedom, she could finally move her limbs and breathe in a full, lung set, of air, but after a second she realized the truth.

"ZORO!" Kuki wailed, the loudest she has ever. Her voice box straining past its limit. The swordsman was so much higher then her, almost double, and his eyes widened when he realised it… when he realised what the helmsman had already known, no one could save her now. "KUKI!" the teen screamed back, reaching his arm down even though it was pointless. She reached her arm up towards him as well, until her body hit the stone. At first there wasn't pain, her breath hitched and her body refused to inhale. A white, hot flash flew across her vision, taking what seemed like minutes but was, in reality, only a few seconds. Next, her hearing stopped, well stopped everything but that annoying ringing. Kuki opened her eyes after the flash of white, watching Zoro go higher and higher…all the while watching her with a look on his face she had never seen on him before, a mix of anguish, rage and regret. Next came the pain, and it never came slowly, it sparked at the back of her head and then that set flame to everything, her arms, legs and torso.

Kuki hadn't noticed she was screaming until her hearing came back. "Zoro! You alive! Kuki! Are you ok!" Ussop called out, his eyes switching from the man still raising higher in the air and then two the screaming girl almost drowning in her own blood. The noises their helmsman was making...ear splitting howls of anguish made the hairs on each of their necks stick up. "No! He'll die if he falls from that height!" Chopper cried, huge fat tears falling from his face. That made the girl stop…stop everything, the words her doctor had said bounced around her mind, as if she was trying to get the entire meaning. "Kuki! Stay alive! Don't stop talking and keep your eyes open!" the sharpshooter ordered, not liking the sudden silence from the blonde. Her eyes focused on Zoro, who had just started his fall. "Let's do this." Oz grinned, preparing to jump up towards the swordsman. "Take this, monster!" Franky yelled, already aiming his sights at the Giant, "Weapons Left!" the cyborg shot the explosive perfectly at the Zombie, and right before it hit Oz did a back flip, dodging the shot completely.

"What agility!" the shipwright screamed, raising his sunglasses to get a better look. "Don't praise the enemy." Kuki laughed, on the stage of deliria, "If you do it's like talking down to yourself. The giant grabbed a hold of another tower, ripping it in half and holding it as if it was a weapon. "What's he doing now?" Brook whimpered, watching Oz turn towards them. In a second the Zombie was in the air, flying towards them, thrusting the building at them as if it was a bullet. "Haha we're all like ants compared to him. No matter how strong…he can kill us with a step of his foot." Kuki laughed again, staring up at the sky as she felt hot liquid soak threw her hair, "I wonder how I'd look like as a red-head…" Franky and Brook free fell lifeless, the shipwright's eyes rolled back that only the whites showed. "Four out, four more to go and then the Shadow King wins." The tiny girl giggled again, completely out of her mind. "Here comes Zoro! If he hits then he'll die for sure!" the doctor and sharpshooter worried, watching the First Mate fall.

Robin crossed her arms in front of her chest, "Cien Fluer! Spider Net!" the archaeologist called out, creating a net out of arms that caught the swordsman. "You saved me." he coughed, blood splattering on his shirt. "You look like Christmas Zoro." Kuki smiled affectionately, not realizing the danger around the situation at all, just that the First Mate was hanging above her. "Shit…" the green-haired man muttered, opening his eyes to see the face of Oz hovering above him. His eyes shot fully open as the monster raised his, knitted together, hands above his head. The shock of the situation finally forced Kuki out of her delirious stated. "Kaze Kaze no Bullet Burst!" the tiny girl screamed, rushing all the words as she sent two shots of air pressure straight above her, where the Zombie was. They hit and caused the Zombie to give her all of his attention. "Stupid Fairy!" Oz mumbled, agitated. The monster raised his foot, as if to stop the helmsman. Kuki smiled, as if to say good bye to the First Mate who was now gazing down at her, helpless and…scared?

"You're a Zombie too! Take this!" Ussop screamed, "Hissatsu Salt Star!" firing the rounds into the Giant's open mouth. Oz swallowed and glanced up at the Sharpshooter, nothing new happening. "It…wasn't enough…" Chopper whispered, frustrated. As if it was a last resort, the doctor changed into his heavy point and charged at the beast. Until the Zombie hit the bridge, knocking all four, since Zoro's 'net' was attached to the bridge, to the ground. "N-no…" Kuki whimpered, not being able to move since her body's natural pain killers had kicked in. "I'm sorry…" a voice said to her. Kuki didn't even have to turn her head to check who it was. "Why…are you sorry?" she stuttered, trying to keep herself from crying. "I didn't save you this one time…ha like you always told me not to do." Zoro added, strained. The tiny girl sniffed, all of them had been defeated…what was going to happen? Her Nakama…that she just got….her first friends…were going to die?


	33. Chapter 33

**Author's Note: How are you! I'm great! My Chapter speediness is at its old pace! Isn't it wonderful? Muahahaha! I think it's awesome...and I think I need sleep T_T Hope you enjoy this chapter! Haha Review? pleawse? Oh and go check out my Deviantart account so you can see the pictures I drew of Kuki and Zoro! My account name is caitlinLeP **

"Luffy…" Ussop coughed, loosing consciousness soon after the word left his mouth. The zombie looked down at all eight figures, who were all laying uncomfortably on the broke stone. "I don't know you guys. I am Moria-Sama's servant, Oz!" The Giant replied, lifting his arm to look at the bounty pictures, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine…" he counted out loud, pointing at each picture, "Those two have have nothin' to do with the crew…" the zombie added, looking at Ussop and Brook, "Which means that Straw Hat guy from earlier, the orange haired girl and the stylish hero are missing. That's three of em'. Where are they?" Oz asked, scratching his head as he turn around to look in the other direction. "Shit, what a monster he is." Franky said, forcing himself up. Kuki turned her head and watched the cyborg, how did he have the strength for this? "He's got both power and speed eh?" the First Mate grinned, taking steps towards the Zombie. "Zoro-Kun…" the helmsman mumbled, seeing him get up as well.

"What's his name again?" Sanji asked, lighting up another cigarette. The cook was already standing, even though a steady stream of blood was rolling down his face. "Let's see…" Chopper tried to answer, wiping dirt off himself. "I'm sure it was Ross." Franky stated, carrying the Skeleton on his back. Kuki picked herself up, suddenly filled with the determination that each person had, the emotions filling her up. "That's wrong." Ussop replied, pulling down the rim of his hat, the plume frayed and ripped, "There's a Z at the end of it." The Helmsman dusted off her black shorts, as well as took of her, half destroyed, black suspenders. "Hughes?" Robin offered, giving the crew a closed eye smile. Each member started on their way towards the Zombie, taking casual steps to their goal. "That's not even close." The sharpshooter said scorning the archaeologist. "Oss?" Sanji asked, exhaling his smoke as he glared at the Giant. Kuki stepped faster to catch up to Zoro, who was in the front. The swordsman turned his head to get a good look at her, the blood tangled in her hair, the gash on the back of her head and all of the bruises…but to him she hadn't ever looked better.

Of course he didn't like her getting hurt, but the look on her face made it all better…she looked excited, pumped up and most of all she had faith in herself. Something Zoro had never seen in this girl, and it looked good on her. "I'll help you there." Kuki offered, smiling as she untied the dark green, almost black, bandana that was wrapped around his arm. The first mate took a hold of it as the girl offered the item to back to him, tieing it snugly in place on top of his head. "No, some things still missing…" Chopper wondered, right behind the pair who leading the pack. "It's Oz." Kuki finally said, laughing at the trouble her crewmates were having. "That's right!" they all agreed. "Stay safe this time." Zoro muttered under his breath, so only the Helmsman could here. The tiny girl couldn't help but smile, "I'll try my best, but I can't promise anything." Kuki chuckled, cracking her knuckles for effect. The First Mate grunted, obviously not enjoying the girl's comment too much and he noticed that, like earlier that day, her eyes had changed as well as her personality…

"Oi, Oz!" Sanji yelled as each crew member stopped a few metres before the monster, "If that's really Luffy's shadow in there…" the cook smirked, taking a pause to inhale from his cigarette. "Then you shouldn't be underestimating the strength of your own Nakama!" Kuki finished for the smoker, so pumped for this fight. But why? Why was she so excited for this…and she got her answer by looking at the faces of her friends, they all held a certain amount of bloodlust, some more then others, but all that emotion was flowing into her, all adding up…so much that she couldn't control it. Franky put down the Skeleton and found these…nunchucks styled weapon that was basically two large pillars with a heavy chain holding them together. How the cyborg had found them? Kuki would never know. Soon the area filled with a harsh, loud laugh. "You're pretty tough pipsqueak pirates…and the fairy! I thought you were dead, maybe I should keep you!" Oz chuckled, finding it funny that all the 'tiny' pirates (and the 'fairy') were still alive.

Zoro grumbled under his breath at the Giant's comment. Suddenly, the Zombie leaped into the air, landing right in front of the bunch, trying to scare or frighten them, but no one even moved, they all just glared up at Oz. "I've got an idea for you guys…" the swordsman smirked, "How bout' we send this guy flying?" Kuki's grin grew wider, her heart beat sped when the First Mate's gaze hit her's. He looked so…hot when he was blood thirsty…along with the bandana…or at least the Helmsman thought so. "Oi-i-i Zoro!" Ussop stuttered, knocking himself out of all the courage he collected. "I see…that'll probably feel good." The cook added, agreeing with the First Mate's idea. "W-w-wait a minute!" the sharpshooter tried again. "I think that sounds just about right." Kuki smiled. "S-send him flying!" Ussop screamed, trying to knock sense into the rest of them, "Such a big guy like him?" Zoro nodded, "But still, with Luffy's movements in this monster's body…he's pretty good." The green haired man added.

"But 'Pirate King' wouldn't fit him…" Robin stated no readable expression on her face. "How to bring him down…" Franky said out loud, rubbing his…'chin', "I've got a bunch of plans to try…" Chopper changed into his heavy point the rim of his pink hat casting a shadow across his face. "He's got to have some sort of weakness." The doctor reasoned. "This 'monster' is just one big fish; I'll have to loosen him up bit by bit." Sanji snorted, his 'cook' side of him coming threw. "Despite that…I'm really scared." Ussop whined, his knees smacking together. "Haha, I'll smash you all! Except the fairy, I'll keep you as my pet." Oz bellowed. "First you gotta' try and tame me." Kuki laughed, her hands clenching and unclenching in anticipation. "Tch, puny beings." The Zombie muttered, angry with the Helmsman's defiance. "Here he comes!" Zoro warned, and soon after the Giant launched himself into the air again. "Gomu Gomu no Shiri Mochi!" Oz screamed before landing right where the Straw Hat crew was located.

Moments before, each member had gotten away safely. Kuki smirked, jumping up and running along the Giant's arm. The girl didn't think about the height, how she was doing this or anything, the only image running threw her mind was fighting this monster. "Kuki!" Zoro yelled, frustrated with the lack of personal safety this girl was showing. The Zombie's one eye watched the tiny girl as she sprinted up to his shoulder. He picked up a hand and tried to smack the 'Fairy' as if she was a mosquito. Kuki barely missed the hand, "Kaze Kaze no Bullet Burst!" the girl smiled evilly, shouting the Zombie's hand. "Annoying Fairy!" Oz screamed, shaking his hand back and forth as if he got pinched. "Dumbass!" the First Mate scolded, jumping up onto the Giant, throwing the helmsman over his shoulder and leaping away right before they both got squished. "Hey, I was having fun." Kuki pouted, still over the swordsman shoulder. "What is wrong with you!" Zoro demanded, placing the girl down a little roughly.

"What do you mean…" the tiny girl asked, slowly getting 'herself' back but her mind was still cloudy and 'grey' with the blood thirsty emotion. "You know what I mean! You're not acting like you! You just almost got yourself killed!" the swordsman carried on. "Zoro! Watch out!" Chopper yelled, right before the monster's foot started crashing down on him. "Shit." The First Mate yelped before jumping to the side, "Franky! He's coming your way now!" The cyborg started running, looking behind him to see the Oz's hand raised above him. "Gomu Gomu no Hammer!" the giant called out, just missing the cyborg as his fist imprinted on the ground, leaving a hole. "Damn him…we'll have to use our best combination attack!" the shipwright stated, dropping his weapon while running off towards the crew, "You guys!" both Chopper and Ussop raised their heads, "Time for Tactic 15!" The doctor and sharpshooter just nodded their faces, following Franky by running at the rest of the group, Robin, Sanji, Zoro and Kuki.

"Swordsman, Swirly! Stand by!" the cyborg shouted. Both men looked over at the three running towards them, each raising an eyebrow. "Anyway just grab onto my legs." Franky added. "What's he about to do?" "I really don't know…" "Alright let's do this!" Robin and Kuki just stared, jaws slack, at the boys…what the hell were they up to? Chopper jumped onto Ussop's shoulder, the sharpshooter then attached himself to Franky's head. Zoro and Sanji each grabbed a foot, supporting it by holding it snugly by their shoulder and neck. "Pirate Rocking Seven!" Chopper shouted, soon followed by Ussop, "Koudal Robo Senshi!" and finished by the shipwright, "Big Emperor!" Everyone fell silent…the five guys looked like some sort of…transformer…missing the… "Oh hell no." Kuki stated, understanding why Chopper was looking at the girls funny. "Stop!" the doctor, who was at the very top of the…thing, ordered. "What's wrong Chopper?" the cyborg asked, forcing Sanji and Zoro to turn him to face the girls completely.

"The two arms haven't been docked yet!" the tiny reindeer stated. "What?" Franky yelped, looking at both arms, "Kuki, Robin hurry and dock!" No matter how the blonde girl pictured it, the 'docking' creeped her out…how was she expected to attach to the shipwright? "Ya, hurry!" Ussop pressed farther, trying to urge the pair into it. One look between the two females and they already understood each other. "No." they both stated, crossing their arms and facing the boys. The males all had blank faces on…registering that Kuki and Robin had rejected them. "Now that I think about it…" Zoro muttered, realizing what the Helmsman had about her 'docking'. "Why not?" Franky, Ussop and Chopper whimpered. "That would be too embarrassing." Robin added, not holding back. Kuki chuckled at the archaeologist's bluntness. "That…" "Would be-e-e…" "To-o-o to-o-o…" "That would be too embarrassing." "She completely rejected us!" Oz shook his head in disbelief, "Your not going to do it!"

"The docking?" the Zombie asked. Sanji sweat dropped, making his cigarette fall to the ground, "Hey…why are you all shocked as well?" "Dammit! I was all pumped up too! I wanted to see the Big Emperor!" Oz whined, sounding dangerously like their captain, "Do it! The docking." The monster ordered, flying his fist at the…robot like thing. Zoro and Sanji both ducked, leaving the top three to get hit. Sending them flying into a large stone slab. "Dammit…" Zoro mumbled, his cheeks red with embarrassment, "What did they get me to do right now?" "Now wasn't that cute…playing robot with the boys." Kuki joked, not being able to hold back her laughter. The First Mate's blush grew, making him turn away from her. "If only you docked Robin!" the 'idiot' trio stated, still imprinted into the slab, "I can't belief you betrayed us! Luffy would have done it you know!" The dark haired girl turned away from the three, "Never ever try that again." "Please… just forget about the last five minutes…" Zoro pleaded, still blushing. "Not likely." Kuki replied, laughing into her hand. "Well…I order you to…since you're my..." the swordsman started, but the helmsman cut him off, "Pet cat?"


	34. Chapter 34

**Author's Note: As always…go check out my Deviantart account so you can see the pictures I drew of Kuki and Zoro! My account name is caitlinLeP, and I would love seeing any picture other people draw! Ah I'm tired and upset today not in that great of a mood so I'll keep it short. Enjoy the chapter and review please thank you (P.S Sorry if this chapter is crap... T_T not been in a good mood)**

The battle had continued for a while, it seemed like all the crew mates could do was dodge, the speed of the Zombie wasn't letting the group have any time to get on the offensive. "Franky! I'm borrowing these!" Zoro yelled over the noise, stabbing the side of the shipwright's 'weapon'. "Ah you jerk! My heavy nunchucks!" the cyborg protested, watching helplessly as the First Mate ruined them, "What ever…fine you can borrow em'." Sanji ran started running around Oz, trying to find a vantage point, "This bastard…I need to save Nami-Swan again and he's in my way." The cook whined, kicking up a large stone block and sending it flying towards the Zombie. It smashed apart on the monster's head, making him notice the 'small' smoking pirate, "Ugh you again?" he asked, raising his hand as if to squish Sanji. "Robin, Kuki! I'm going to take out his left arm. You two finish the job!" the First Mate ordered, charging towards Oz with the huge 'nunchucks' over his shoulder.

"Alright!" "Roger!" the two girls agreed, prepping themselves. "Here I come!" Zoro shouted, closing in on his target, the back pillar swinging dangerously fast not too far behind him. Sanji played as the decoy, running side to side and calling out all sorts of things to make the Giant angry. Just as Oz was about to hit the Cook, Ussop shot three, round, bullets filled with oil at the hand the Zombie was using for support, forcing the Giant to loose balance. "Oi, Swirly Brow! Shoot me up!" the swordsman called out. Sanji sighed, "With that heavy thing?" the cook mumbled. Zoro smirked staring right at the smoker, "It's fine if you can't." he answered, poking fun at the cook. "Of course I can you Baka Marimo-Head!" Sanji defended himself, holding out his leg so the swordsman could go on it, which Zoro did, "Armee De L'air…Power Shoot!" And with that the First Mate was soaring threw the air, aimed perfectly at his target. Kuki readied herself, along with the archaeologist.

"Dia Gekkon!" The back pillar of the nunchucks hit the monster's arm so hard it sent a loud 'thump' vibrating off the area. "Cien Fluer!" Robin said, staring already with her arms crossed. Hundreds and hundreds of arms sprung up on the Giant's back, "Big Tree Clutch!" the large amounts of arms turned into one big hand, grabbing Oz's already injured arm and pulling it back behind his head. "My turn…Kaze Kaze no Jet Stream!" the Helmsman stated, aiming her knuckles at the Giant's right leg, which was the only thing still holding the monster up. The strong force of wind knocked out his support, sending the Zombie to the ground. Just before Oz was about to get back up, Franky and Chopper were already on the move…building some sort of…stairway in the air? "Sky Walk! But we have to hurry this wont last for long!" the shipwright exclaimed, hammering sheet after sheet of wood in place that the Doctor would hand him, "Let's go!" And Franky was right, just as the two had reached the Zombie's face and jumped the stairs crumbled apart, leaving nothing behind.

"Super…Fra-pper…Gong!" the pair screamed, punching the Giant in his face with all their force. Oz's eyes rolled back into his head, only showing the whites. Chopper and Franky landed safely, joining the rest of the crew…in waiting and seeing if their plans had worked. "Oh ya! Did you see our power!" Ussop gloated, forcing his fist in the air as a sign of victory. "How's that, Luffy-Monster!" Chopper joined in jumping around in glee. "It's a start…" Sanji said, lighting another smoke, did he ever breath fresh air? "I think it's a little too early to celebrate…" Kuki mumbled, watching the Zombie carefully. Her eyes slid over to the swordsman and it seemed like he had noticed as well. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." Oz repeated, still on the ground, "you…you bastards…" Ussop's arm slowly came back down; this fight wasn't over as the sharpshooter had once thought. "Now you made me angry! Ima' beat you all to a pulp!" the zombie screamed, so loud that Kuki had to cover her ears.

"This guy's seriously angry!" the doctor shrieked, changing back into his normal, small point. "This is bad! This is really bad!" Ussop sobbed running around in tight circles. Every member prepared themselves, getting into defensive positions, until the dust cleared. "They won't come out!" Oz exclaimed trying to lift his head up but the large, sharp horns on his head weren't even budging. "Can't get em' out you say?" the sharpshooter asked, an evil, wide grin stretched across his face. The crew mates all caught on to Ussop's idea, the Giant was helpless. Robin looked down upon the Zombie, Sanji played up a full-teethed smile along with his cigarette, Chopper's eyes sparkled dangerously under the rim of his hat, Franky lifted his sunglasses to peer at Oz and Kuki pulled the edge of the glove on her right hand tight, an evil smirk playing on her face. Finally Zoro, who was the creepiest out of the entire group, sliding his tongue along the edge of Wado and, along with his dark bandana that rested right above his eyes, the motion sent shivers down the tiny girl's spine…but not shivers of fear…something else.

Oz started sweating, his one eye moving from one pirate to the next, each member looking just as creepy as the other. "Free for all?" Zoro offered, not even looking at anyone else. (Fast Forward to when the Zombie get's free of his horns…a.k.a after the Straw Hat Crew beat the shit out of him) "Cut it out already!" the Giant screamed, righting himself again. "Retreat!" Ussop and Chopper yelped, running away first. "Right!" the rest of the crew agreed, following the first two. "These guys are like demons!" Oz wheezed, breathing heavily. Kuki couldn't help but giggle as she ran for her life in front of Sanji. "So that wasn't enough to beat him…" the cook pointed out, stopping when he was a safe distance away from the Giant. "I was hoping it would be." Robin added, pausing as well. Everyone stood still and watched the Zombie, waiting for its next move. "Now what?" Zoro asked. Franky looked over at Chopper and Ussop, who both nodded their heads in approval.

"To take out a monster like him…we'll need Tactic 15!" the cyborg shouted. "I agree we should try it once more, but you two have to dock this time!" the sharpshooter and doctor said in unison, pointing accusing fingers at Robin and Kuki. Both girls' eyes widened and received an angry blush on their faces, "We told you never again!" "You stupid Bastards! There's no way my Angels would do something so humiliating!" the helmsman and archaeologist both nodded their heads in approval, "Uh…oh…wait…" Sanji started getting off course, picturing the girls in their 'docking' positions, a little slobber trickling down his chin. "Baka!" the swordsman roared, hitting the cook across the head, "More importantly…" the First Mate continued as Sanji had to deal with Robin's rage, "you guys better not even think-" "Let's do it!" Franky interrupted, "Pirate docking three! The, not so big, emperor!" Robin, Kuki and Zoro just starred as the smoker kicked the three idiots towards Oz.

"I'm surprised they made it that far…" the tiny girl added as they watched the three land on top of the Zombie's head. "Attack!" Franky, Ussop and Chopper yelled, just stomping on the Giant's head. "Is that…supposed to be an attack?" the First Mate sweat dropped, watching his crew mates while being embarrassed for being under the same flag as them. "Seems like it." Robin added no expression on her face…as usual. "Are they…talking down to it?" Kuki wondered out loud, face palming. Sanji fell to his knees and started hitting the ground, "I'm so ashamed to be apart of it." He cried. The blonde girl walked over and patted his back, "We all make mistakes…" Suddenly, there was a loud crash, the four crew mates on the ground looked up to see the Giant falling backwards with his own fist hitting his face, as well as Franky, Ussop and Chopper landing on the ground. "Alright!" the three rejoiced jumping up in the air. "Yay! Did you see that my Angels! Just as I planned!" Sanji cooed heart shapes in his eyes, "Job well done Pirate Docking Three!"

"What was 'just as you planned', you stupid love-cook…" Zoro mumbled not liking how he was chatting up Kuki, since she was beside him from patting his back earlier. Oz saved himself at the last moment, moving his foot to use as balance so he wouldn't fall. Meanwhile the other three crew mates ran to safety, away from the monster. "Jeez…" Sanji muttered, taking out another cigarette. "Sanji-Kun, your smoking so much, that's bad for you." Kuki said, noticing that he indeed was smoking more then usual. "Aw you're so cute when you're worried Kuki-Tan!" he replied while lighting the cigarette. The tiny girl just shook her head and gave up. "I've got a plan!" Ussop smiled, pointing a finger to the sky with enthusiasm. "Enough with these half assed ideas." Zoro mumbled, just wanting to get it over with. "Listen to me!" the sharpshooter demanded, yelling as loud as he could to get everyone's attention. When the crew stopped to listen he began again, "This guy's just like Luffy…which means he has Luffy's weakness."

That was all they needed to hear, after that sentence the Straw Hats went into action. Speeding apart to circle the Zombie. Before anyone could do anything the helmsman spoke up, "Oi, Oz! It's me the fairy!" Kuki yelled, cupping her mouth with her hands to be louder. "Fairy…" Zoro brushed off, thinking his 'cat' theory suited her much better. "You never asked what type of fairy I was!" she smirked, everyone raising an eyebrow at her…especially Ussop who was wondering if this girl had understood him correctly. "What type are you?" Oz asked, curious. Kuki paused for a second, giving each crew mate a look that screamed 'trust me'. "I'm the meat fairy!" She laughed, running away as soon as the words escaped her mouth. The entire crew sweat dropped, finally understanding the helmsman's plan…well they had an idea of what her plan was. "Meat fairy!" the Giant screeched, instantly trying to capture the girl, "I'll keep you and you have to give me meat everyday!" Franky took the opportunity to jump up and smash Oz's thigh with his extra large nunchucks.

The Zombie faltered for a second but still carried on with his mission to capture Kuki. The girl was leaping, turning, running, stopping, anything you can think of to elude his hands when he tried to grab a hold of her. Zoro became uneasy; he didn't like the idea of the tiny girl being bait but couldn't do anything now…he just had to take this monster down quickly. "Stay still!" Oz ordered, annoyed veins popping up all over the monster's forehead. Kuki just stuck out her tongue and continued to do her best at avoiding capture. Suddenly, Sanji and Zoro each jumped at the same time, hitting each knee. The power of the attacks forced the Giant to the ground, Kuki closed her eyes right before Oz landed but when she opened them again she was starting directly into the humungous eyeball of the Zombie. Fear, was the first thing she felt, his one eye was maybe four…five times bigger then herself and having that huge pupil focus on where the helmsman was standing scared Kuki to the bone. A goofy grin stretched across Oz's face as he reached out and finally caught his 'fairy'. The tiny girl hardly noticed…just as she hardly noticed that she was holding her breath. Without warning the Monster opened his mouth wide…and tossed Kuki into the deep dark hole.


	35. Chapter 35

**Author's Note: As always…go check out my Deviantart account so you can see the pictures I drew of Kuki and Zoro! My account name is caitlinLeP, and I would love seeing any picture other people draw! And remember…read, enjoy, and review! 3**

Kuki almost forgot to scream. Her body kept falling, while occasionally bouncing off the sides of his…throat? The girl's body hit this edge, where it seemed like there was two openings, without having a choice, she started sliding down one side, but it didn't feel like flesh anymore, it felt solid…almost metallic. Finally it hit the Kuki…she was falling again, and as she started slipping down further the girl reached out to the top of the edge, gripping it tightly with the top of her fingers. Just before Kuki was going to pull her self up the metal edge sliced into her fingertips. (Other Crew's POV) "Ahhhhhh!" a loud, long scream rang out, echoing from Oz's mouth. Everyone froze, trying to understand what the Giant had done. As soon as the monster plopped their helmsman into his mouth he stood up. "H-he…a-ate…Kuki!" Ussop screamed smacking and squishing both sides of his face with each hand. "Neko-Chan!" Franky cried, braking down. "Kuki-Tan!" Sanji was shocked, so much so that his smoke fell and hit his over coat, burning a little hole in it before it landed on the ground.

Zoro was frozen in place, unable to move. "Haha I'm keeping my Meat Fairy safe!" Oz laughed, rubbing his stomach area. "You…" the swordsman started to say, "you fucking bastard!" and that was when all hell broke loose. The First Mate and cook went crazy slashing, running, jumping, yelling...all the while the rest of the crew started mourning. "How…how are we going to *hick* explain this to Luffy?" Chopper balled, hugging tightly to Robin's leg. The Archaeologist rubbed his back, trying to sooth the reindeer, but her face also showed the pain she was feeling, as well as the shock. "Zoro, Sanji stop, the both of you! We-we just got to stall him until Luffy beats Moria, not kill him! You won't be able to!" Franky yelled, watching as the two men were pushing themselves. Suddenly, with a flick of the Giant's hand, the First Mate was sent flying. "Zoro!" Chopper and Ussop screamed, watching the teen smash into the stone. "How can you even think about not killing him! Not ripping him to shreds!" the swordsman asked, scaring all his crew mates as he directed his anger onto them for a second.

"What are you talking about you bastard? You don't think we all cared about her too!" Sanji asked, taking Zoro's attention away from everyone else, "But right now, as the First Mate you have to do what's best for the crew…" Zoro finally got knocked out of his angry haze, finally noticing the sad and angry faces of his Nakama, "But I can't! I can't just stand here and do nothing!" he rebutted again. Sanji came up and grabbed the front of the swordsman, "And you don't think I want to dice and broil this shit head? If it wasn't for Robin-Chan and Nami-Chan I would keep going on until this guy couldn't stand anymore, but you gotta stop thinking about yourself!" Zoro shoved the Cook off him before placing Wado into his mouth. Sanji fell to the ground and sat up, wiping the dust off his face with the sleeve of his shirt. The smoker was just about to get up again until the dark haired women placed a hand on his shoulder, "Let him be." (Kuki's POV) The girl was still on the ground, or surface she didn't know anymore, trying to stop the spinning going on in her head.

But was it just in her mind, or was the Zombie spinning? Kuki groaned and sat up, the floor beneath her was hard and cold. The helmsman didn't even try looking around, since she was surrounded by complete and utter darkness. _"How can you even think a bout not killing him! Not ripping him to shreds!"_ "Zoro?" she called out into the darkness, mentally slapping her self after. Of course he wasn't in here…but that was his voice… _"What are you talking about you bastard? You don't think we all cared about her to!"_ And now Sanji? What was going on? As the cook continued to yell the girl stood up and walked towards the noise blindly, holding her arms up in front of her while she took small, timid steps. Then it got quiet… until _"But I can't! I can't just stand here and do nothing!"_ Suddenly her fingers brushed a type of heavy, cloth like substance, she flinched back at first since her fingertips were bleeding and swore. But soon after Kuki tried lifting it but the cloth wouldn't budge, frustrated, the girl took a step back, accidently falling into what seemed to be a chair.

As soon as her body landed on the cushion something flew out and wrapped around the girl's waist, attaching to the other side of the seat. Kuki's hands desperately grasped at what ever it was, trying to rip it off with no luck. Her hand hit a button during the fret, causing the helmsman to shut her eyes as a searing flash happened. Slowly after the girl opened them again, now realizing that the lights had been turned on…and the 'thing' that attacked her seconds ago was actually a type of seat belt. Suddenly, the 'room' started shaking violently, the only thing stopping Kuki from hitting the walls was the seat belt. She could hear the voices of her crew mates but the girl wasn't able to place them into words. "What Sanji and Zoro were fighting about…it was me…wasn't it?" Kuki whispered, having her worst fear slowly coming true. The helmsman cared about the swordsman and that was obvious, if he was in any trouble she'd do anything in her power to help him and that didn't bother her, not one bit. But the idea of him doing the same for her…that's what frightened the tiny girl.

If she…died…the Straw Hats could carry on, Franky knew how to steer the ship…but if something happened to Zoro, if he ever felt the need to put himself in harms way for Kuki…The very thought scared the helmsman, no one could replace the green-haired swordsman she adored…no one. He had people to lead and take care of when Luffy wasn't there, so instead of worrying about her he should be worrying about the whole group. "You aren't that bad. It could've caused some serious damage, you bastard!" Oz bellowed, his voice actually vibrating the poor, tiny girl. Kuki's head flung forward, her wavy blonde hair following and flinging in her face, she could see that patches of hair where her own blood had dried and stuck together. "Shut up!" the First Mate ordered, his voice dripping with anger. Without warning, Kuki felt sick with the (your stomach is in your throat, your falling) feeling. "I'll flatten you!" the Zombie yelled, moments before his body met the ground. The hit forced the Helmsman's head back, smashing against the metal chair with a sickening crack, sending Kuki into darkness within seconds.

(Later) "Shishishi! What are you doing in my station?" a voice asked, calling Kuki out of the nothing she was currently resigning in. "…Zoro-Kun?" she asked out of habit, since it seemed like every time she was awaken he was close by. "Shishishi. I don't know how you got in here but this might come to benefit." The Helmsman started to hear a lot of…robotic noises and after that she forced her eyes open. First of all she saw another chair like the one she was currently trapped in coming up beside her, Second, A Shichibukai was smiling evilly down at her and last but not least, her head ached uncontrollably. The tiny girl could feel the blood dripping down the right side of her face, as well as from her mouth where a chunk on her inner cheek was missing. "What…what's going on?" the blonde screamed, trying to get some distance between the herself and Gekko Moria. "This'll knock the swordsman out of play Shishishi, not that I need it." The…what ever it was, giggled, "There's no point in struggling. The seat belt unlocks with this." He added, showing the girl a button the she couldn't reach.

It was on the side farthest away from her on Moria's chair. "Let me go." Kuki growled, glaring down her opponent, even though she recognized the strength difference. "Let you go? I didn't even put you in there! Shishishi, you did! You should be happy to even be alive if you fell down the other hole then you'd be digested by now!" the Shichibukai ignored her order, sitting down and strapping himself in as well. With a push of a button the heavy cloth, that the Helmsman had tried to push aside before, started sliding to the side. The tiny girl could now see outside, now see her Nakama. "The night sky is so much more beautiful than I expected!" Moria smirked, watching the stars. Wait stars? "Dawn!" Kuki gasped, seeing how light everything was becoming as well as how there was no more fog. "It's Moria!" Ussop hollered, falling backwards on his ass. Chopper flung his head towards the sharpshooter, as if to ask why until he too noticed the 'hole' in the Zombie.

"Kuki-Tan!" Sanji creid, huge, globs of salt water falling from his face. The cook was so relieved to see the girl alive, but not as relieved as a certain man. "Kuki…" Zoro sighed, as if a huge weight was lifted off his shoulders. "Kuki, I-I thought you were de-dead!" Chopper wailed, hugging onto Robin again since the Helmsman was too far away. "Can't get rid of me that easily." The girl tried to joke, even though her eyes were starting to sting with happiness, it was weird for her to have so many people worry about her, she still wasn't used to it. "Wait…why is she in there with Moria?" the Archaeologist asked out loud, bringing everyone out of their happiness and back to reality. "Shishishi, she's my hostage! Finally you notice!" the Shadow user spoke, his high pitched laugh really starting to annoy the blonde girl sitting, against her will, beside him. The swordsman's eyes tightened, putting a hand on the hilt of his newly won sword. "Hey, the point of a hostage is you can't attack me…unless you want her dead?" Moria asked, raising an eyebrow while that ridiculous smile still plastered on his face.

The green haired man grinded his teeth together in frustration, and then after a minute he reluctantly letting go of his grip on his weapon. "Where's Luffy?" Ussop asked, sweat accumulating around his face. Moria started laughing again, until he noticed Oz. The Zombie was sticking his fingers in the cockpit, one almost his Kuki. The girl tried squirming away with no avail. "This is well made! I wanna' see more!" the Giant said, still sticking his fingers in the hole inside his stomach area. "Oi, you idiot! Don't go sticking your fingers in here!" Moria commanded, tapping them out of the hole with his foot. "Yes Master-Sama." Oz whimpered, not liking his fun getting taken away from him, just like another person the Straw Hat Crew knew, "It looks cool though…like I'm a Giant Robot! The Oz Bomber! And why I my Meat Fairy in there?" That was when the smile on the Shichibukai's face faltered. "Your what?" Moria asked. "My Meat Fairy, I thought I ate her…" the Zombie wondered, scratching the top of his head with his hand. "As I said before, I'm not that easy to get rid of."


	36. Chapter 36

**Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! Sorry! So Sorry! Anyway sorry (again) if this chapter seems rushed/bad/sloppy in anyway! I'm in a rush so I didn't have time to proof read/go over it! I'm so sorry! I hope you enjoy!**

"Now what do we do? Luffy's no where to be seen and Kuki's in danger…Shit." Sanji muttered, running a hand threw his hair, but never moving it enough to show his other eye. Kuki gazed over at the button, she could do this, she had to. The girl raised her hand a little bit, pointing it over at her goal. 'Come on…' the Helmsman thought, trying to give enough air force to push the button down, but not too much for Moria to notice. "Shishishi, even if your guys Captain was here it would change anything. You're all just a bunch of kids on this sea." The Shichibukai laughed, crossing his arms behind his head as well as putting his feet up, this guy wasn't worried at all. 'Almost…there!' and in seconds, Kuki's seat belt was detached, flinging aside as she jumped for freedom. Moria hardly had any time to even look at the fleeing girl as she bounded out of the Zombie, "Shishishi, and where do you think that's going to get you?" The helmsman turned, facing upwards with her arms spread out as if she was making a snow angel.

Her Nakama's eyes almost popped out of their heads as Zoro jumped to save her, only to be smacked away by Oz. 'I did not think this out well.' She thought, hearing the screams and shouts of her crewmates off in the distance. Kuki clenched her eyes shut, "Why can't I ever safe myself?" the tiny girl yelled. Suddenly, as it seemed like her voice was echoing, the rushing of the wind, the hair fluttering, the falling all stopped. The helmsman opened her eyes, looking around as her body was just…there… "I'm Flying!" she yelled, feeling the wind supporting her back, "I'm actually flying!" And the Helmsman was, well floating, until she looked down. "Dumbass!" Zoro shrieked, as the girl fell to the stony ground, caught by Sanji at the last second. It felt different to have the cook as her savior, he wasn't built the same as the swordsman, he smelt of smoke and was lankier, but all the same she was happy. Kuki barely got out a thank-you before the blonde teen had to jump away from the crushing force from one of Oz's feet.

"Sanji-Kun thanks." The tiny girl sighed in relief when the pair was far enough away from the monster. "My Angel! My floating, falling Angel!" the cook besotted, smiling down at the Helmsman in his arms as a drop of blood dribbled down his nose. Kuki's eyebrow rose, as she started to feel uncomfortable, until she got pulled away from the smoker. Zoro glared at Sanji with a look that said 'mine', as Kuki was now in her 'rightful' place in his grasp. The uneasy feeling left but Kuki still found a way out of the green haired man's arms, standing on her own…no matter how badly she wanted to stay in that position. The cook was just about to start his argument with the First Mate until someone interrupted, "Fine, I'll give you all a chance to fight me." Moria budded in, stealing all the attention, "If you beat me I'll release all the shadows, but unless you bring down Oz you can't lay a finger on me!" "That bastard…that's so cheap!" Ussop yelled, pointing an accusing finger at the laughing Shichibukai.

"We have to finally defeat Luffy's Zombie to get even close to Moria." Chopper added. "Didn't this just make it easier for us?" Sanji asked, becoming more serious as well as turning away from Zoro. "We just gotta do it, everyone stop complaining." The swordsman ordered unsheathing his swords, "Ussop since that small amount didn't work, go find us a mountain of salt!" "We got no choice but to purify Oz, we'll try and weaken him until you get back!" Kuki added, preparing herself for another battle. "That's right, leave it to us!" Franky yelled, twirling his nunchucks around, pumping himself up. The rest of the crew nodded and got on the offensive, allowing the sharpshooter to run off in the direction of the kitchen. Moria laughed, "Oi, Oz! Take out that long nosed guy before he reaches the kitchen and the path to the mansion as well!" he ordered, leaning back in his chair. "Yes master!" the Zombie agreed, aiming a punch on the path the Sharpshooter was on.

"Ussop!" Zoro yelled after realizing what was going to happen, but the teen barely had time to turn his head before the Giant's arm went threw the stone building, breaking down the last entrance to the mansion. Chopper galloped towards the rumble, his doctor instincts kicking in full force. "Shishishi!" the Shichibukai hollered, throwing his head back in laughter. "This is bad…with Moria's brain added to Oz's brawn…" Franky muttered as they all watched Chopper search for their Sharpshooter. "He's fine!" a voice called out, the crew looked up to see Brook falling down towards them, both arms full. One with an unconscious Ussop and the other with a large, old bag with the word 'SALT' etched on the side. "I had a feeling we would need this so I brought some." The musician said calmly, landing perfectly in front of the group as he place Ussop on the ground. "Brook…you're alive?" Kuki asked without thinking, the skeleton raised his head to meet her eyes.

"Yes, after a perilous journey I have regained my strength and brought back this to save the day," he rose the bag of salt, "now…may I see your panties?" " I think we should just throw him along with the bag down the Zombie's throat." The Helmsman said, turning away from the musician and crossing her arms across her chest. "Yohohoho! So harsh!" Brook laughed. "How are you better?" Chopper wondered, remembering the mess the skeleton was the last time they had all seen him. "Milk!" "What kind of calcium magic is that?" "Everyone knows milk heals bones!" "Liar!" Sanji cleared his throat, breaking up Ussop's and Brook's squabble, "Well…whatever happened, the fact is that now we have the salt we need." Everyone nodded turning their heads to look at the opponent, who, up until now, was being completely ignored. "And with the entrance to the Kitchen destroyed, we can no longer mess up." Robin added. "No pressure…" Ussop squeaked, his knees shaking with fake confidence.

"We're running out of time! Let's do this!" Zoro said, his eyes grazing the sky as it continued to brighten. The swordsman broke out into a run, causing Sanji and Chopper to jump into action as well. 'we can no longer mess up' Robin's previous words rung inside Kuki's head, "I can do this" (FF to when Moria cuts Robin's Shadow away) "Snip." It felt like slow motion to Kuki, watching her dark haired friend fall. The archaeologist's eyes rolled back, showing everyone only white, shocking, painful, white. Finally, after what felt like ages, Robin's body hit the stone, unconscious. "Shishishi! And that's the third one down!" Moria laughed, clenching a struggling shadow in his fist. "You bastard!" the tiny girl cried, tears threatening to fall down her cheeks. And before she could do anything, Sanji was already on the move. The cook was spin dangerously fast until one of his legs was burning hot; emitting a heat even Kuki could feel even though she wasn't even that close to the smoker.

"Diable Jambe." Sanji muttered, furious. The cook sprinted at the Shichibukai, leaping high in the air as he got close, "Give Robin-Chan her shadow back! Extra Hache!" And as the teen started attacked Moria just stood there smiling, "Brick Bat." "He's switching again!" Kuki warned, watching as the figure was now just a bunch of bats swarming the cook. One of the shadowy beings bit down onto Sanji's shoulder, forcing him to stop. "Shishishi, looks like everything is back where it started." "Damn you, Master! I told you this was my fight!" "Sorry about that Oz, I just stole a bit of the action!" Zoro gritted his teeth, his face showing signs of stress. 'He's trying to think up a plan to finish this as well as keep us all safe…' Kuki realized, watching as the swordsman's eyebrows dipped in frustration. The Zombie made an attempt on Robin's life, but with Sanji still on the defence he deflected the attack, panting afterward. 'What can we do? His strength has multiplied…' the tiny girl fretted, her hands clenching so hard that her nails bit into her skin, "I got it!"

The Helmsman broke away from the group, off to one of the buildings to the side of them. She heard Chopper's, Sanji's and Zoro's voice but paid no attention. When she reached the stone wall and after she found the 'sturdiest' part, she started to climb. It took all of the girl's will power to not look down, as well as to slow her heart down after every minor slip and miss-footing, she had to get as high up as Oz's stomach. "Sanji! Chopper!" the swordsman cried out, making Kuki flinch from the sound of him. She could picture the face on the green haired teen as the Helmsman heard Nami's voice, "Two more…down…" The tiny girl's hand clenched hard onto the stone in it's grasp, 'What happened to them? Are they alright?' she exhaled and reached up again, 'If I want to save them, I have to keep going.' Kuki thought, knowing that if she did look back down all her will power would fade. "Shishishi! Number four and number five! Only four left!" Moria chuckled.

The Helmsman made one final reach, grabbing the edge of a large window frame and pulling herself up. "Oh shit." She gasped, spreading herself thinly on the little ledge. Her arms tried to stick to the glass behind her and all Kuki could do was look down…look far far down. The front of her shoes didn't have enough space and were over the edge, no matter how far she tried squishing back they wouldn't fit. "This was dumb…so very very dumb." The Helmsman muttered, her eyes glued to the spot of ground she would land in if she fell. "Gomu Gomu no Pistol!" Oz yelled, stealing the blonde's attention away for a bit. Zoro was in the air, just having missed the Giant's attack until, "Gomu Gomu no" The swordsman tried to counter attack before the monster could hit him with his forehead but he was too slow, "Kane!" And Oz sent the First Mate flying into the building on the other side of the Helmsman's, the swordsman smashed in the concrete right across from Kuki, they were both on even height and straight in front of each other.

"Zoro!" she screamed, eye wide as blood dripped from the corners of his mouth were his sword gave room. The green haired teen opened his eyes and saw the girl, out of delusion, his eyebrow rose, "What are you doing there…you stupid cat?" "You dumbass watch out!" Kuki warned as Oz tried hitting the First Mate again, but the pirate was knocked out of his previous state and he jumped down before the Zombie hit the building. Kuki could finally breath again as she realized that Zoro was still alive and dodging the Giant's attacks, her eyes fell upon Franky, then to Brook, Robin, Sanji and then ended on Chopper's body. These were all her Nakama, her friends, her family. "Ussop now!" Apparently the rest of the crew had created their own plan as well, Kuki watched as Zoro stood on Oz's shoulder and the Sharpshooter had… "Smash!" within a blink of an eye the humongous Zombie kneed the swordsman back into the other building. "No…" Kuki whispered, unable to make any louder noise as she watched the green haired teen fall to the ground amongst the other rubble.

His Wado was falling beside him, out of his mouth, being replaced by more blood. "I won this one." Oz added ending the battle between the two. Everything else that happened after that was a blur to the tiny girl, 'Zoro was defeated. I won this one.' Both sentences echoed inside her head as her vision blurred with complete hatred. "My Family!" Kuki now noticed Nami and Ussop had disappeared and that Oz was stomping at the ground, he got them too? Was she the only one left fighting? "Shishishi, I was looking for you! Crush her too! The last one!" "I won't let you kill my family! Kaze Kaze no Poison Breath!" The Helmsman aimed the purple, misty, cloud at the cockpit, and before she could look to see if it had worked she fell to her knees from the pain. The burning spread like a wild fire, starting at her finger tips and reaching up her arms and, like always, that sickening purple color followed close behind. Without noticing Kuki slipped from her spot, falling down to the ground. After the 'thump' her lungs gasped at the air that just wouldn't come. Kuki's throat struggled to pull in oxygen to feed the fire going on inside her, and just before the flames wrapped around her heart she glanced up to see the smiling face of Moria. "It didn't work…How did it not work?" her eyes began to swim and darken, "I couldn't do anything."


	37. Chapter 37

**Author's Note: Hey everyone (that is still with me) I know it's been a really really long time for this story, but I have to explain, you know when you don't feel like writing? Well I had that feeling for the longest time for this story, and I didn't want to force it because then it comes out as shit. So today I felt a little bit of inspiration so I wrote you guys a chapter, sorry about that, really guys. Everyone who's still out there, putting up with me, I love you all! Haha please review! It helps me get inspiration! (And if you have nothing else to do I have two new stories, one for Naruto (mostly the Akatsuki) called 'Am I A Psycho?' and the other for FairyTail called 'A Fairy's Roar'. Check it out if your bored :D )**

"_Pretty…"_ That was the only word Kuki could use to explain where she stood, the sun glistened across the golden sand of the beach, which was being lapped up by the shimmering blue water of the sea. Large palm trees hung over her head, looming to the side as if they reached down towards the blonde, and scattered all over the ground were these beautiful, blue flowers. For some reason the tropical plants near her feet struck out to the Helmsman, as if she was supposed to…_remember _them? All of a sudden she was out in the water, looking in at the small island. At first Kuki realised she should have been scared, with being inches above the ocean, but a _pulse_ seemed to roll off from the land, calming her in waves, but at the same time pulling the young girl's body towards the strange yet intriguing place. Suddenly, Kuki's body vibrated, shaking her sight. _"Run! Get away from Moria!" _Her head turned, trying to find the source of the voice but coming up with nothing but endless water.

"_Idiot! Get into the shadows! Morning is coming!"_ For some unknown reason those sentences struck fear into the tiny girl's body, sending all of her skin into a 'goose bump' frenzy. _"The Straw Hat's show no fear; I have no right to run away."_ With every word spoken the small paradise seemed to get farther and farther away, not that Kuki minded, but it just felt wrong. _Straw Hats_…_Moria_…_Shadows_…_Morning_…every word started to slowly make some sort of sense in Kuki's mind, her eye's squinting as if she was looking threw dense fog. _"I'm going to get a bit reckless, please take care of me afterwards."_ Now the island was only a dot in her view, the Helmsman was surrounded by ocean and voices. "Luffy…" Kuki whispered, realising who had spoken the last sentence, finally it made sence. The memories of fighting the Shichibukai, using her strongest attack and failing, flew back. Was she dead? Was this Heaven? Everything was shiny, warm and glowing…but then what was with the voices? "Where am I?"

(Waking up) "Where am I?" Kuki mumbled, her eyes fluttering against the light. Where was the beach…the water…the sun? Her skin was cold and mist was kissing her face softly. "Kuki-Tan! My Angel, you're awake! I was so worried!" a familiar voice wailed. "W-what?" the Helmsman mumbled opening her eyes to the sobbing face of Sanji. "I was so worried, your hair is full of blood, and your all beaten up, but don't worry your still beautiful!" the cook continued, reaching out as if to hug the girl, until a sheathed sword came between the Helmsman and the smoker. Sanji glared up at the culprit, making a face as if he was preparing a come back, but before he could, Luffy cut him off. "Gomu Gomu no Jet Rocket!" the captain screamed. Kuki looked up to watch the rubber man fly into a huge, bloated, feral version of Gecko Moria. The tiny girl's eyes widened and her jaw fell slack as a handful of shadows escaped from the giant like Shichibukai's mouth. "Nice to see you finally up, kiddo." Zoro smirked, finally getting the Helmsman's attention.

Kuki looked up and tried to glare…tried, "Kiddo? You're a year older then me 'boy'." Another loud crash ended the conversation early, "Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka!" More shadows snuck their way out to freedom. "He's…really going all out. Will Luffy be ok?" the small girl asked, watching her captain with a worried look on her face. The swordsman reached down and propped the blonde girl up, steadying her as Kuki's head started to spin. "The sun's coming; he has to finish it soon." The First Mate explained, gazing up at the light. "If not, our bodies will burn away." Robin added, smiling sweetly at the Helmsman. Kuki glanced at the Archaeologist and shivered, sometimes that woman could be the creepiest person… "Believe in Luffy-Bro, he'll get our shadows back." Franky added, "Go Luffy!" Chopper and Ussop joined in the cheering. The captain kept hitting, kicking, slamming into Moria, causing more and more shadows to escape, until… "Brick bat!" the Shichibukai started piling shadowy, bat figures around Luffy as he paused on the side of the only tower left standing, "Black box."

The bat's then turned into walls, enclosing the rubber man in a box. "I'll crush you!" the monster screamed, raising his fist. The crew had barely any time to even gasp before Moria slammed his fist into the wall, exactly where the shadow box was…the one Luffy was currently trapped in. Kuki slowly moved her hand over her mouth as she faltered into Zoro, using him for support. The swordsman had a straight face, not even blinking as the squished container fell to the ground with a metallic clang. Ussop, Chopper and Franky all gasped, holding onto each other as the crew watched the black box in silence. The Giant Shichibukai lifted his foot, "This is a baptising! This is what you amateurs get for pretending to be big shots in this huge world!" slamming down onto the black, crumpled object multiple times, "This is what happens when you dare oppose a Shichibukai!" During the whole mess everyone could only watch, until Kuki saw what seemed to be an arm protruding from the dark mass.

"Stop!" she wailed. "People should know their own limits!" Moria accused, glaring down the blonde as he brought down his foot one last time. Ussop, Chopper and Brooke all called out to the rubber man, trying to catch a sign of movement as the monster raised his foot. Satisfied, the Shichibukai left the box alone, preparing to move on with the rest of the crew, until… "Clank…" the noise echoed from the 'box'. Everyone held they're breath, unable to move. Suddenly, the metallic substance flew off the ground, leaving Luffy in it's wake. The boy was alive, gasping for breath, but alive. The captain's body was still steaming and held that same reddish tint as before. "Gear Third!" Kuki wanted to watch the rest of the fight, but the brightness of the sky caught her attention, they all had minutes left until sunlight hit them. Robin, Sanji, Zoro…they were all standing proud, excepting any fate they were handed. The blonde nodded and straightened her back, joining the three in their line.

They were all around the same height, with Robin's heels, so when the dawn's light first peaked over the ledge of stone the top of their hair lines started billowing out smoke. Kuki came up to the swordsman's chest, so she had to watch the others suffer…she had to watch them stick out the pain long before she even received it. Unintentionally, the Helmsman's hand found it's way to the green haired man's…making sure that he was still there, so the girl could face the light. Until the First Mate pulled her to him and turned his back towards the sun. Kuki was shocked, her small body was completely covered by Zoro's, his arms were securing her to his chest, wrapping around her back, and his head rested on top of her own. The tiny blonde blushed, "W-what are you…" then it hit her, "n-no…" She half heartedly tried to pull back, away from him. "No." the small girl's voice raised, a chill running down her spine as her fear was confirmed. "No!" The swordsman's arms tightened, not saying a thing as she tried hitting him with her fists.

"Stop it! Stop! No!" Kuki struggled, tears coming to her eyes as she looked up to see more, whitish smoke rising from his green hair, the hair she loved so much, the hair she found so intriguing…disappearing. "This isn't fair!" the Helmsman tried again, fighting hopelessly against his hold. The rest of the crew mates just watched, grim faces as the situation unfolded. "I-if you're going to disappear…" the blonde whispered with a shaky voice, "then I am too. Please…" Zoro was using his own body to hold off on Kuki fading away, using it as a shield. Almost all of his hair was gone, Kuki couldn't stand it…if this was it…if this was the end…she didn't even get her first kiss. Without shame, shyness, or embarrassment, the small girl reached up onto her tippy toes, trying to reach the First Mate's lips. This took Zoro by surprise, giving Kuki enough power to turn him slightly to expose both of them to the sun's rays. _'His hair'_ Without realising the girl's finger had found their way to his head, running threw the strand that weren't there, that had 'disappeared'.

Kuki couldn't reach up all the way, the blonde was only a centimetre short, but without a second notice, Zoro tightened his grip on the girl, squishing all the room that was between them out of the way, his hands heavy and needy with a statement that told Kuki he wasn't a hundred percent sure they were going to live, his lips were ruff as he forced them upon hers. The girl didn't know what a good kiss was, or how too in the first place, but they both ran off of intuition. Her heart sped as she hissed when the light started eating away at her fingers, still attached to his hair. Zoro ran one of his hands up to the tiny girl's head, trying to sooth her. They both knew, wholeheartedly, that their Captain would win against the Shichibukai, it was just the timing. The butterflies in the blonde's stomach were squashed by the sight of the First Mate's face going up in smoke. Instinctively, the Helmsman slide both hands down trying to feel where his face was, surprisingly she could still feel it there, his eyebrows, his cheeks, everything, the girl just couldn't see it.

All of a sudden there was a huge crash with cheering in the background, not that Kuki paid much attention to it, but with the crash came a full on blast of sunlight. The girl gasped as half of her body set into a flameless fire. During that she fell back a bit, pulling away from Zoro. Looking over she saw that he too was half gone. "No," the helmsman whispered, she couldn't stand the thought of a world without Zoro in it. "Robin!" "Sanji!" "Zoro!" "Kuki!" Everyone was crying out for them, where they really going to disappear? Where they really going to die? The Swordsman walked over to her huddled figure on the ground, crouching down and pulling the rest of her body towards him. "I don't want to die; I have so much more to see." Kuki explained crying against his chest. Zoro never spoke, but that didn't bother the girl, his actions were taking part of his voice. "But I guess I'd rather disappear here with you then live on without you…" she added embarrassingly.

Kuki's body was so much smaller then everyone else's that it was burning up much faster. Knocking her out of her shocked like state was something invisible pressing against her forehead. Kuki lifted her hands up, cheeks, a nose; lips… the girl sighed and rested against the man. How could one person make her feel so calm this close to death? The tiny blonde blushed as Zoro kissed her forehead in reassurance, being glad over one thing of being shadow less at the moment, the First Mate couldn't see the red tinge to her face. She closed her eyes and kept her hand up in the teen's hair, playfully twirling the short pieces as she started to accept any fate that was to come. Until, "Ha..haha…Yo, it seems like I'm alive…" The Swordsman pulled away from her, standing up. Kuki opened her eyes to see a full Zoro looking towards the rest of the crew, his cheeks a little red as he averted his eyes from everyone. Then it hit her, he wasn't on fire, there wasn't smoke…they had they're shadows…and the whole crew saw them…

"I thought I was going to heaven for a moment there!" Robin laughed, rubbing the side of her face. The older women smiled dangerously at the blonde still sitting on the ground. "That's fine with me! I wouldn't of minded going to heaven with my two special Angels!" the cook screamed out, rocking back and forth with heart shaped eyes. Apparently, Sanji hadn't noticed the pair…but everyone else did. "Um…" Kuki mumbled, feeling the heat rise up to her cheeks. Ussop, Franky and Nami all starred at the small girl with open mouths and red cheeks, as if they accidently watched something they shouldn't have. All except Brooke, who was just watching the Helmsman with his holes for eyes. "Don't laugh your asses off idiots! We all were worried thinking you guys were going to die and you two were off…" Ussop paused his anger, "Doing whatever you two were doing." Well this was awkward…what was she supposed to say in this situation? "Good job Zoro-Bro." Franky added, holding a 'thumbs up' towards the First Mate.

Zoro just huffed it off and sat down, physically and mentally exhausted. The cook seemed to catch on, "What did you do to Kuki-Tan?!" he asked, pressed his forehead to Zoro's. "Nothing!" he exclaimed shouting back, "none of your business anyway!" Sanji then ran over to the Helmsman, taking her hand while sobbing "What did that big muscle head do to you while in your delicate state my Angel? Are you ok? Do you need me to defend your honour?" Kuki didn't know what to say, she just looked up to see the green-haired man's head facing the ground as he got even more pissed with everyone of the smoker's words. "He was kissing her forehead." Chopper answered calmly, "What? Reindeers give each other kisses all the time…" he asked to all the looks he was getting. Kuki shoved her face into her lap, hiding it from the world. "Um…things like that are a little different for humans…" Nami added patting the young doctor's back. Sanji fell to the ground stiff, clutching his heart as his body seemed to be made out of stone. "Oh…"


	38. Chapter 38

**Author's Note: Hello! Another one out today! Praise the heavens that it didn't take a couple months for this one eh? ;) lolz I try my best ok (actually I could be trying a lot harder…) This one is kind of a filler/kind of not one…does that make sense? Well it doesn't have to! Just read it haha! Oh and I wanted to get this one out really fast so I didn't go over grammer T_T sorry about that but hey be thankful I'm posting tonight anyway. As always review if you have anything to say! I'd appreciate it, oh and if your ever reading my stories and see a random '3' it's because I tried to put a heart there only to have fanfiction take out the bottom half of it! ****If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Pokemonjkl: oh man, I have nothing against Sanji but come on now…he's just toooooooo easy to torture…am I right? And I know! He finally got the balls! (even though it was when no one could see him) but baby steps ;D Glad your enjoying it :3**

**Onepiecefannumber1: Aw thank you! :3 you guys are too kind haha I can't re-read my chapters cuz then I get all angry at myself over spelling mistakes or places that need better explanatory but hey! I'm sure as hell better then chapter one! Haha…or at least I think so O-o and you don't have to wait any longer now! :D**

**Whysoserious00: #1 aw thank you! :D you guys (my reviewers) are my favourite readers ^_^ #2 "How about a Magic Trick?" haha one of my favourite movies right there! By far the best joker I've seen! (and if your name isn't about that then…just ignore '#2' completely… **

**Tachi Tsuki un: Thank you! I pride myself in my humorous skills (eeven though most people don't see it) **

"That was scary!" Nami and chopper whined, sliding down each other to the ground. Everyone was now feeling the relief of the five crew mates still being alive. Kuki raised her hand to brush her finger tips against her lips, they were still numb from…from…the swordsman caught her looking towards him and they both glanced away awkwardly. "_Does this mean…that Zoro likes me?"_ she snuck another glance, the First Mate was still sitting, obviously tired, "_No, he was probably just trying to calm me down…but then again I don't see him kissing Nami or Robin when their upset…"_ "It's sunlight!" The crowd around the Straw Hats yelled, causing Kuki to notice her surroundings. The breeze was calm and the 'boat's' birds where singing in praise of the warmth. She was alive, if anything at least she was alive. "Anyway, I'm glad nobody disappeared." Ussop exhaled looking visibly stressed. The Helmsman looked at her crewmates; everyone was worse for wear, as well as her clothes.

The suspenders were gone, one stocking had multiple gaping holes and her shirt was starting to crust with old blood. The girl was in desperate need of a shower…one without Zoro this time. Had they even confronted each other about that incident? Kuki would have rather died then bring it up, far too embarrassing. "It's almost like we've all woken up far a nightmare." Sanji explained exhaling the dirty chemicals from his smoke; nicotine running threw his system, telling his body everything was going to be alright. Apparently, the cook's own mind had erased the moment Chopper told him about the 'kiss', since he acted perfectly…normal. Maybe Sanji just wouldn't be able to take it along with his injuries, the thought of the big green oaf stealing away one of his Angels…like some sort of defence mechanism? "Man, that was one bad ghost ride we got on." The smoker finished, smirking. Kuki tried to stand but ended up on her ass, apparently her injuries were worse off then she had originally thought.

The adrenaline from all the action was keeping her up and running, and now with everything calm her body fell victim to the accumulated wounds. "Kuki!" Chopper yelped, scampering over to his patient. The red clumps at the back of her head frightened him, remembering the fall when Oz had thrown the Helmsman to the ground. Why had he not thought of her sooner? "I'm fine, really, just a bit dizzy." She tried to explain, laying down as her vision started to swim lazily back and forth. Everyone started shuffling over to the girl, crowding her sight. The doctor lightly turned her tiny body over so he could get a good look at her back. Kuki hissed as he prodded her skin with his hoofs, a serious look flashed over his face. "What's wrong with her?" Zoro asked, watching the reindeer. The animal looked up from the tiny blonde's back to the First Mate "Her back is severely bruised; maybe a cracked rib, but her head got the worst, a concussion. It seems to have been cut open, she'll need stitches defiantly…" the doctor paused lifting up both hands, taking longer to look at them, as if something shocked him, "and her finger tips have been sliced."

The swordsman grimaced but nodded, "fix her up." The rest of the crew nodded in silent agreement as the young doctor trotted off to get medical supplies. "Wait, you guys have injuries too…" the tiny girl tried to add, her stomach beginning to turn along with her vision. "We're not the one with blood everywhere…not that you don't look beautiful Kuki-Tan!" Sanji swooned, only managing to be serious for a short period of time. "Just let Doctor-San do his job so he can finish quicker." Robin added, smiling down at the Helmsman. Kuki sighed, giving in to the group as she heard the steady tapping of Chopper's hooves, signalling the boy's return. "I'm going to have to put you under her the stitches." The tiny animal explained as he rummaged threw a bag. "I hate needles." Kuki pouted, watching Chopper tap the side of his syringe lightly. "Just suck it up, kiddo." Zoro ordered with a slight smile playing across his face. The tiny blonde's eyes squinted as she received her shot, smirking lazily as the medicine started to drown out her senses, "Fine…'boy'."

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><p>"Didn't Luffy shrink before?" Zoro asked. The entire crew was surrounding their captain as he slept silently on a flat rock. Kuki sucked in breath as she tried straightening her back, no broken rib just heavily bruised muscles, and the threading holding the skin on the back of her head together where throbbing. Chopper offered pain medicine, but with the anaesthetic still slightly numbing her senses, the girl didn't want any other drug running threw her system. "When he uses that 'Giant Gear' of his, he told me he shrinks as a side effect…" Chopper explained watching over the rubber-man. No one else needed any extensive care, excluding Zoro and the cook who all refused to get checked out stating they were fine. Kuki huffed crossing her arms, no matter how sore she was the tiny girl needed to get her point across, the First Mate forced her to get taken care of but refused for himself? What part of that was fair? And she most likely looked ridiculous, with fresh bandage wrapping wound around her head, covering each finger and her entire torso, making the poor Helmsman feel very exposed, since the young Doctor didn't want her shirt interfering with the precious bandages he ordered her not to wear one.<p>

How he managed to wrap up her chest and stomach? Kuki didn't know, even thought Nami had specified that the other boys were nowhere near and it was just them two…still embarrassing. The only items to make it threw the battle seemed to be her black shorts and one of her knee-length socks…time to borrow money from Nami again… "Don't you think Luffy's new fighting styles are a bit too harmful on his body?" Ussop asked, biting his lower lip as he watched the black-haired boy in front of them. The Captain's breaths were slow and shallow, no other movement coming from his body except for the rise and fall of his exposed chest. "I'm worried…" the Sharpshooter continued, "If there's going to be stronger enemies from now on he's gunna have to keep using these. If we don't pull ourselves together soon…" Everyone seemed to nod in agreement, nobody willing to speak up, especially the Helmsman, she was the one who had the worst injuries, except for her Captain, what did that say about her?

Kuki sighed as Sanji, Ussop, Nami, Franky and Brooke all turned their attention to the, quite large, group of people that had ran up towards them. "So, from before, what made you go all crazy back then Helmsman-San?" the older woman asked, settling down beside the bruised and battered girl. "Hm?" Kuki questioned, raising an eyebrow that seemed to disappear behind the strikingly white wrapping upon her forehead. "When we first entered the mansion, you were stomping on that Zombie's head as if it were a bug to be squashed." Robin explained, still wearing that 'innocent' close eyed smile. "Oh…" the tiny girl noticed Zoro's ears perk up at the conversation, even if he wasn't looking their way, "I don't really know myself, I can feel emotions and intentions in the air…well more like sence, but all that evil pouring out of the Zombies as they were laughing seemed to… swarm inside me, overcrowding my one feelings, overpowering them." The Archaeologist just bobbed her head up and down slowly, taking every bit of information in, "Well, that could be used against you…"

"I already know that, I'm _going_ to control it…" Kuki mumbled under her breath, instantly regretting her rude tone after, but the older woman still kept smiling, seeming to understand that the Helmsman didn't mean it. "More importantly then that, one of you may marry me!" That voice brought three back to reality, the crowd around them were bowing towards the Straw Hat Crew and a huge lady with pale, pink hair and lips that could swallow Kuki whole…her body shook at the thought. "No!" all the males yelled towards the female, irrated looks staining their faces, but instead of getting upset the woman just brushed it off, as if getting rejected by five people at once wasn't that bad. "That's the 4449th rejection!" the two ratty men beside her started to holler. Kuki's min ran a blank, she couldn't even think about confessing to one person, yet alone 4000 and get rejected by all…you had to give this lady some points. "Even if you thank us," Zoro started to say, running his free hand back and forth along his hair, apparently he was listening to their conversation as well.

"In any case," the pink haired girl started to say again, trying to get in another word. "Luffy already told you old man," the First Mate just continued to ignore the other captain, carrying on his conversation with the old man listening contently. "Hey, you over there!" "We only fight on our own terms," "Don't you want to marry me?!" The helmsman blushed, now the female pirate was singling the swordsman out? Kuki found herself glaring at the larger lady, causing her to stop. "You guys were rescued as a bonus." Zoro finally finished, reacting too late to the flying hand aiming to his face, apparently Nami didn't appreciate his opinion… "What the hell are you saying?!" the navigator screamed, watching as the First Mate flew backwards, rolling over himself until his body was stopped by a large stone jutting upwards. "Um…wasn't that a bit far?" the tiny blonde whispered, not wanting a part of the angry woman's furry. "Just as someone finally thanked us!" Nami carried on her ranting as a long, painful groan sang out from the green clump buried underneath the dust and rock.

Kuki and Chopper both looked at each other as Ussop and the 'Hell woman' started talking about treasure with the other pirates. "If you hold him down…" the young doctor started to hint. "and you get the bandages…" the helmsman added, a devilish smirk creeping upon her face. "Then we can treat him! Yosh!" they cheered, having one high five before getting to work. "That's right I-" Nami slapped a hand over her mouth and froze. The air, that was cheery and relaxed a few moments ago was now chilled and silent. The crew's heads all turned towards their navigator, even 'nurse' and doctor, who were currently trying to mummify Zoro in a full body suit of wrappings. "Forgot something really important!" Nami finished, spinning on her heel to find Luffy still heavily asleep. "What's that?" Ussop asked, blank faced at the girl's sudden depression even though the mention of money was recently the topic of conversation. "His…presence." She was able to mutter out.

Robin straightened up, "What is it?" Nami's hand fell, "This is really serious…" Before the navigator could get to the bottom if it, Kuki's head snapped over to the remains of the tower, feeling the ominous energy. "I see…so my worst fears have come to reality…" the sound was filled with static, as if coming from a snail phone, but it was enough to get everyone's attention. You could hardly miss the extremely large figure sitting on the pile of ruins, how did no one notice him sooner? "So it would seem." the voice was deep, bone chilling in a way that it was so emotionless, it seemed almost robotic. "W-who's that?" the sharpshooter stuttered, you didn't have to have some sort of 'power' to catch the aura seeping out of this…man? Was 'he' considered a man? The figure wasn't big enough to be a giant but was about the size of Moria, who was defiantly not human. "He's here." Nami whispered, taking a step backwards, her face was breaking out in a cold sweat and her breath was starting to become shaky, "Everyone listen…during the fight with Moria I forgot to tell you guys…There's another one! A Shichibukai!"

Everyone stopped, how? How could two be on one island? What God did they piss off to receive this misfortune? "Just as we found a replacement for Crocodile….it's not good to lose another one. Is Moria still breathing?" the snail asked, having no facial moments, just like it's master. "Who knows." The large figure answered, lifting one of his legs to be placed on top of the other. "As long as he is alive we will wait for him to recover and take back his place as Shichibukai. The dignity would be lost if we lose another Shichibukai, this knowledge must not reach anyone else. Man these guys are a problem…" the snail carried on, causing a chill to run threw Kuki's back, just what lengths would he go to, to make sure no one else would find out about the shadow user's defeat? "Do you comprehend what I'm saying?" the snail asked after it's pause, "Obliterate everyone on that island, leave no one left." "Too easy."


	39. Chapter 39

**Author's Note: Hey! For anyone who's confused this is a Christmas Holiday Special Part 1, Part 2 is coming soon! A Friend of mine really wanted one and gave me some of the idea's haha so this is for you Steph! You better like it! Please review! And for those of you waiting for the next 'real' chapter it's coming after the next Holiday special. If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**pokemonjkl: I will, but for now enjoy this! Haha (hope you don't mind that you have to wait a lil later)**

**Girl-luvs-manga: Don''ttttttt wooorrrrrryyyy theres a lil surprise coming! Muahahahahahaha**

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><p><em><strong>Snowflakes In The Wind<strong>_

"No, Robin you can't…" Kuki gasped, eyeballing the red Speedo in the older woman's hands; with different colored wrapped gifts decorating the fabric.

It was Christmas Eve, the entire crew was ashore the island, buying a gift for their 'Secret Santa' name slip. Luffy was afraid that since they were not in a 'snowy place' old Saint Nicholas wouldn't come to give them gifts so at first he wanted everyone to buy a bunch of gifts for everyone else, but after a smack from Nami his decision changed into one gift per person. After picking a name out of their Captain's Straw Hat they were off trying to rush to find something decent.

"It's what he likes." Robin rebutted, stretching the waist band between her two middle fingers.

The Helmsman blushed and grabbed the garment out of the older woman's grasp, apparently Robin picked Franky, "He's a pervert and he'll get the wrong idea by you buying him underwear…"

The crew wasn't allowed to tell anyone who they got, but Robin was making it too obvious.

"I don't know what you're talking about Kuki" the Archaeologist replied, grabbing the underwear back and checking out the price tag.

The other costumers in the store started watching the two females as if they were outsiders, with being in a male shop that is, as they started bickering.

"Come on, he's the only guy in the crew who actually wears this kind of stuff." Kuki added, lifting up yet another frightening banana hammock with a mistletoe 'hanging' just where the front waistband began.

"Oh so you know what type of underwear swordsman-san wears?" Robin asked evilly, leaning in towards the tiny blonde girl.

The helmsman immediately dropped the garment in her hands as she figured out the innuendo and looked up towards the older woman.

"No!" she gasped, her cheeks burning once again.

This is why Kuki would have rather gone shopping with Zoro, not that Robin was any bad it's just the First Mate and her could have normal conversations or none at all and not feel the need to start one, but recently he's been…pulling away from her. Not talking as much, not sitting by her while they were eating, it bothered Kuki…a lot.

"Oh, and the Cook, Sharpshooter, Doctor and Captain too! Helmsman-Chan, you naughty girl." Robin continued, dropping the red Speedo and reaching for the one the tiny blonde had thrown away in detest.

The male population surrounding them in the isles started to pay more attention to the conversation.

"H-hey now, you know what I meant, and be quiet people are looking at us." Kuki growled under her breath, just wanting to leave this store.

The Archeologist chuckled and started on her way to the checkout, with the mistletoe underwear in hand.

"Robin! Anything but that one!"

* * *

><p>"Ah, Kuki, Robin! I've been looking for you two everywhere!" Nami smiled welcoming the two with a gigantic hug.<p>

"O-oh?" the blonde asked, questioning this girl's sudden happiness.

Just this morning she was weeping in the kitchen as she gave out each crew members ration of Berris for Christmas shopping. What was with the sudden change of heart? The area the three were in was overcrowded; this island seemed to be a very popular one, with lots of people and large shopping centres. It was almost as big as Water 7, just not as beautiful.

"I need your help with something…" Nami added slowly, her smile never faltering but actually turning up cruelly on the side.

The orange haired girl flung both of her arms over the shoulders of the two females and steered them towards a building.

"Found a way to make money Navigator-Chan?" Robin asked, going along with it anyway, even though anyone could catch Nami's suspicion.

"What are you up to?" Kuki asked, her eyes narrowing as they neared the building.

By the entrance there was a huge 'bouncer' like man, dressed up in a classic black suit, accompanied by a pair of black sunglasses and an emotionless face.

"Is that scepticism I sense? Come on Kuki aren't we friends? You should trust me more." The navigator pouted, leading the way, straight towards the large guy.

"I would if you weren't a money fiend…" the Helmsman whispered under her breath, low enough for the supposed 'fiend' not to hear but loud enough to make Robin giggle. "Here they are! So, do we pass?" Nami asked the guy, placing a hand on her hip.

The man ran his eyes up the three girls, making Kuki blush automaticly. With a head nod the man stepped aside and allowed the females entrance to…wherever they were. Nami hadn't been so kind to inform them as of yet. With a squeal of delight, the navigator grabbed a hold of the other two and rushed them inside.

"Kyle! Kyle! I got them, now for three it was how much? 100,000 Berris?" Nami yelled, waving over to a man standing by an expensive looking camera.

The large are was set up into groups, one place held multiple mirrors with fancy brushes, colored make up containers, hair brushes, ect. Another held racks full of black bags containing outfits, as Kuki had guessed, and another seemed to be a photo shoot, where currently a Christmas tree was set up with elaborate presents underneath. The tiny blonde already didn't like this situation.

"Ah, yes! You saved me darling!" 'Kyle' shrieked, clasping his hands together as he took in the other two females, "Jasmine!" the man snapped his fingers as a frantic looking girl ran up towards him.

"Yes?" the lady asked, out of breath.

Her brown hair was up in a ponytail, with many pieces scattered around her head as if she slept in it. The ladie's green eyes held heavy bags underneath them as well.

"You're in charge of this one," he pointed straight at Kuki as she gulped away some of her fear, "She's the perfect 'innocent' Santa…don't you think?"

* * *

><p>"Ouch." Kuki yelped as 'Jasmine' pulled at her hair.<p>

Everything had gone so fast it was as if she was caught up in a whirl wind. Two other people took 'charge' of Robin and Nami, muttering things about elves and angels. Apparently, the navigator had bumped into Kyle, who immediately begged her to take part in his last minute photo shoot for their 'calendar'. His three other models quite or either came down with the flu and he promised money to Nami if she could get two other 'good looking' girls to come take part. Of course anything with the mention of Berris and Nami would be alright with it, no matter Kuki's opinion or not. She still hadn't gotten the Captain his gift, even though Luffy was rather easy to buy for, being as his favourite thing in the world was meat and adventure…but still the thought of being in a calendar didn't appeal to the tiny blonde…not one bit. All she could think about was old, pervy men looking at her pictures. Kuki shuddered and bit her lip again in slight pain. Jasmine was currently 'tightening' her natural curls… Kuki's face already felt heavy with make up an her hands were kept on her thighs, trying to pull at the white fur trimming the hem of her dress a couple inches lower. The poor girl was forced into a tiny red, strapless dress with two circles of fur at the bottom and the top. The fabric ended right bellow her butt, making the girl blush after every movement. Kuki's feet were clad in tall, knee high, dark brown lace up boots, that had a heel giving the short girl a couple of inches, her hands were also covered in a satin like white material that stopped right before her elbows.

"There, last touch and…done!" Jasmine had placed a Santa hat upon the girl's head, and swivelled Kuki's chair to face the mirror.

The Helmsman's jaw hit the floor, who was this girl in the reflection? The blonde strands were now in tight, neat ringlets and her bright blue eyes were accompanied by a thin line of black eyeliner on top that winged out to the sides a pair of fake eyelashes and a shimmery coat of lip gloss.

"Helmsman-Chan." Robin called, walking over to the younger girl.

The Archaeologist too looked amazing, a glistening floor length gown in a pale blue that cut far up the side of her thigh seemed to hug her body. A pair of fake wings was also attached to her back and a golden ring fitted snugly around her head.

"Oi, you guys ready, better do good so I get my money." Nami laughed, sticking her tongue out as she placed her finger and her thumb together in a 'O'.

The Navigator had a short, pleated green skirt on that seemed to play 'peek-a-boo' with every step, a red bandeau that had green trimming and a rather cute elf hat on her head that had a tiny golden bell on the end of it.

"I-is it too late to reject?"

* * *

><p>"Nami! Please!" Kuki begged, hobbling after the pair, with one hand at the back of her dress and the other at the front, keeping both sides down.<p>

"I already explained to you, those wouldn't fit me or Robin." The navigator waved off, a smile creaping onto her lips, "you look good anyway."

Yet another wolf whistle could be heard, making the tiny blonde's face reach a new shade of red, matching her attire.

"B-but…" Kuki started to mumble, realising that there was no way either of them would fit this thing.

How much misfortune did she have to go threw this? Out of everyone her clothes had to be the ones gone missing, and with having nothing else to wear the photo shoot workers allowed her to keep the costume…even though she was against it. As if this wasn't bad enough the poor girl was forced to go threw with the pictures, hell Nami could be scary if she put her mind to it. Kuki didn't even have time left to look for Luffy's gift, so she stopped next door and bought him a gift card to one free buffet meal at a nice looking restraint…he even gave her a discount after trying to chat her up a bit…hell she'd have her revenge…they didn't know what was coming…

* * *

><p>Her hand came up as she double checked her hair, her face, her clothes, checked her clothes again and that sat patiently. Inside she was going insane, her hands twitching slightly.<p>

"Shit…" Kuki mumbled, grabbing her left hand with the other and forcing it still, "Why didn't I change…"

Well, to be honest, the girl knew…she knew why her body was still covered in the obnoxious 'Santa' costume…because of him. This was going to get his attention…there was no way it wouldn't. After listening to Sanji and Franky when the three girls got back, she just couldn't take it off until she found Zoro. Would she ever admit to that? No…that was something girls like Nami and Robin would think…not 'innocent' 'tiny' Kuki, but lately the blonde had been noticing another, more confident side of her drifting to the surface. But there Kuki was, sitting in the crows nest, alone, awaiting the swordsman as she shifted every five minutes nervously. Then, suddenly the door in the floor lifted. Her heart raced, heat rising to her face as she thought of the look she would get when he saw her, "Zo…Sanji?"


	40. Chapter 40

**Author's Note: Part 2 of the holiday special! As well as the last instalment! (Meaning it's back to the main story after this kids! Lolz) sorry if it seems rushed (COUGH COUGH STEPH! YOU IMPATIENT BASTARD) jk I love you! Hehe…other then that please review, I want to know if I should make anymore holiday specials from here on out as well as any ideas for those holiday specials. If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**pokemonjkl: I know! Sanji invading 'their' space…haha and here's the update for ya! Thank you for reviewing! **

**Girl-luvs-manga: I know right! And she was waiting all pretty for him for nothing! But don't worry he'll see her…at some point. Thanks for all the reviews!**

**TheKennyquin: Thank you for reviewing! And fear not I have updated haha**

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><p><em><strong>Snowflakes In The Wind Part 2 <strong>_

"Zo…Sanji?" Kuki breathed out, her heart falling for what seemed like miles.

The cook turned towards the girl and smiled around his cigarette. The tiny girl didn't want to seem mean but a part of her felt like his presence casted a stain across 'their' space. No one else was ever up here except for the First Mate or the Helmsman…so why?

"Kuki-Tan, that Marimo-Head told me you would be up here. You're gunna miss the Christmas party!" the cook sang out, entering the space towards the girl.

Kuki shifted and held a hand over her chest as her eyes fell to the ground, she felt pretty silly now…with still wearing this stupid costume…for waiting for him. Zoro must be pretty upset with her to send Sanji…what did she do? Would he ever talk to her again? Would he ever…would they ever…have anymore moments together up in this place?

The smoker stopped, noticing the girl's change in mood, "Kuki-Tan?"

The tiny girl gazed up, plastering on a fake smile, and looking up at her Nakama.

"Yes?" she asked.

The cook frowned and swore under his breath, Kuki hadn't noticed her eyes watering…not a fact the, self-proclaimed, 'romantic' would miss.

"He, um," Kuki wiped at her eyes, just realising, "asked you to come up here?"

Sanji exhaled heavily, kneeling down beside the girl with an upset look on half of his face.

"I won't forgive the Marimo-Head for hurting a lady…but yes, he asked me to get you because he was busy."

Kuki smiled again, trying to make it more believable, "What do you mean? I'm perfectly fine Sanji-Kun."

_No, I'm not. _

* * *

><p>"Supppppperrrrrrr Christmas!" Franky screamed slamming his arms together as the shiny, metallic 'tree' behind him shone all kinds of dazzling, multi-colored lights. Chopper, Ussop and Luffy all fell to the ground in amassment, mouths ajar and eyes a-bright with gleaming stars.<p>

"Oh wow!" the Captain yelled, drool pooling out of the side of his mouth.

The 'tree' was tall and thin, with spiky branches and darker metallic ornaments. It was pretty impressive for a last minute job, or at least that was what Kuki thought. She was sitting on the bench that twirled around the base of the mast, away from the rest of the crew, who were all stationed around the tree that was currently replacing the 'swing' for the holidays. The tiny blondes knuckles were white, her fingers clenched around the edge of the strapless dress. She felt more like a fool the longer she had to wear this thing. Sanji had carried her down, and it was more frightening then Kuki would have ever imagined. The sunny swaying along with the waves, the wind, the little to no support the rope ladder gave the pair. Then, while the cook was carrying the Helmsman down, the usual way Zoro always had, then she realised that the swordsman was the only one that could comfort her fear, which meant no more going up to the crows nest… Speaking of which, Zoro wasn't here…wasn't with the rest of the crew. Was it because she was there? Did he not want to even see her?

"Kuki!" Luffy screamed, running towards her.

The Helmsman got shook out of her train of thought as the Captain jumped at her, wrapping his elastic arms around the tiny girl's body as if he was capturing her.

"What did you get me for Christmas?!"

Kuki yelped in shock as she couldn't move, "Luffy! H-how?" she stuttered, trying to squirm away.

Robin started chuckling evilly as the rest of the crew watched.

"I can't tell you! It's a surprise!" she laughed, forgetting about her problems for a moment

"No, I command you to tell me. As your captain!" he pouted, not allowing his Helmsman to leave without her giving him his present.

"Smack."

Nami clubbed the Rubber-Man across the head, placing her hands on her hips as she glared down the boy.

"Not until Zoro gets here, you have to wait for everyone." The Navigator explained to a grumbling Captain, who reluctantly released Kuki as he rubbed his head.

"Zoro's coming?" Kuki asked her voice shacking a little bit.

Luffy snapped back up, crossing his legs as he tilted his head to get a sideways glance at his Helmsman, "Well duh, why wouldn't he?"

Everyone's eyes turned towards the two.

"Well, ya I guess that was a stupid question." The tiny blonde laughed off, rubbing the back of her neck as she looked away from the group.

"That shit head is late though…" Sanji muttered, taking all of the attention away from Kuki and to the missing First Mate.

The female 'Santa' sighed and secretly thanked the cook before twirling her fingers around her, newly tightened curls nervously. What would it be like to see the swordsman right now? She clenched her fists on her legs, shaking a bit, not enough to get noticed. If it was bad…if they couldn't even be in the same area as each other…what would happen? They obviously couldn't go on adventures together with the Straw Hat crew if they couldn't sit threw one Christmas party… With a quick nod to her self, Kuki made up her mind. If it got that bad…she would leave…they need him more.

"_But where will I go?"_ Kuki wondered, so far off in her own world she didn't notice the green haired man jump onto the deck.

"Marimo-Head, you're late." Sanji greeted, sneering at the new presence.

"Tch shut up Baka love-cook." Zoro grumbling, running his free hand threw his hair, messing up his bright green strands without notice.

In the other hand he held a little silver bag, gripping the shiny wrapping awkwardly. "Yosh! Now I can open my present!" Luffy screamed, rushing over the Helmsman again, regaining her attention.

Kuki looked up to see the First Mate, completely ignoring her Captain, just gazing at the man as her stomach dropped. Zoro's eyes grew completely wide as he quickly turned his head away, a hand hiding the blush that now covered his face. _"What is she wearing?"_ Kuki's heart tightened painfully, the First Mate really was angry with her, he couldn't even look in her direction.

"Kuki!" Luffy whined, jumping in front of her view, "My present!"

The Helmsman gave a half hearted smile and finally gave into her Captain's wishes, handing the rubber man the gift card. With that Luffy cheered and started to run to the side of Sunny before the cook kicked him face first into the deck of the ship, yelling about how he had already prepared a Christmas dinner. With that, the gift exchanging began. Sanji threw a box at Zoro, which the swordsman opened to find a new polishing cotton ball on a stick. The first mate looked up at the smoker a raised eyebrow questioning the blonde man.

"Your other one is dirty and old…" Sanji muttered.

For a moment those two were civil, the First Mate thanked the cook for the gift and the smoker 'humped' a reply. Next Ussop handed the tall blonde a heavy metal object, which seemed to bring the cook almost to tears.

"Finally! A new lock for my kitchen!"

The Captain glared down the shiny monstrosity before giving Ussop a horribly wrapped pole of some sort. The Sharpshooter questioned the gift but opened it anyway, revealing a new fishing pole.

"Since I broke your last one." Luffy explained, "Now you can catch me some more delicious fish!"

Ussop thanked the Captain sincerely, he really had been needed another one. Next Franky stole the spotlight, clarifying to everyone that he had made a 'Super' new quill that never blotches or drips then finally handing over the wrapped box to the Navigator, who smiled and excitedly thanked the cyborg before chattering on about how much easier it will be to draw her maps. As Nami continued on Chopper trotted over to the Archaeologist, holding a couple of small bags in his grip as he held his hoof up towards the older woman.

"Sorry I couldn't wrap them." He whispered, as Robin took the bags.

With a smile the dark haired lady thanked the doctor, examining the pictures of the beautiful flowers the tiny seeds within the bags would grow into. Franky then snatched up the only present under his tree, which was addressed to him, and ripped the box to shreds. Pausing as he gently lifted up the small garment inside.

Kuki grimaced at the horrifying thing as the cyborg sobbed, "Robin-Sis you're so thoughtful! This makes the pervert inside of me happy!" Franky wiped away at his tears, "I'll wear them first thing tomorrow!"

The woman in question just smiled as Franky showed his gratitude.

"Chopper!" Nami yelled, getting everyone's attention, "Merry Christmas."

The navigator's arms were high above her head, making each crew member bend their necks back to look up in the sky. The sun was now covered by a huge, grey soft looking cloud that seemed to hover right over the ship. As if on cue, large, puffy snowflakes started raining down on the deck, making the young doctor's eyes water.

"Thank you!" he sniffled, hooves above his head as he started running in circles chanting 'snow' over and over again.

Luffy an Ussop both joined in, following Chopper. The soft white flakes were already starting to gather up on the grassy deck, covering the green. Kuki held out her hands and watched as the icy clumps landed on her hands only to melt into nothing seconds after. This was really starting to look like Christmas… The Helmsman snuck a glance at the swordsman, if only I would feel like it too.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, after dinner and drinks had been consumed, everyone had made their way to bed, everyone but Kuki and Zoro. Why was the tiny blonde still up? Because she refused to allow her first Christmas to end like this, she was going to confront the First Mate if it's the last thing she does. The girl was sitting down by the bow of the ship, head supported by the railing as she looked up into the cloudless sky. Nami's creation had lasted quite awhile, there was a good couple inches of fluffy snow on the ground surrounding her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Zoro walking towards her, he was probably wondering what she was doing, since he was the only one supposed to be on watch tonight. Refusing to look anywhere else but up, Kuki listened to the man settle down beside her.<p>

The tiny girl's heart sped, "What did I do wrong?!" Kuki scrambled to speak just as Zoro was about to say something.

After a few seconds of silence, the Helmsman opened her closed blue eyes, her vision filled with the confused face of the swordsman.

"What?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowed together.

Kuki looked away, down at her fingers currently in her lap, "You haven't been talking to me at all lately and you sent Sanji to come get me…Sanji to our place-" the girl stopped, she had just called the crow's nest their place outloud by accident…now what was he going to think?

Warmth flew across Zoro's face once again, so she thought of it as 'theirs' as well…

"I-it's because of this." The First Mate mumbled nervously, shoving the silver wrapped bag he was carrying earlier today towards the Helmsman, "Merry Christmas."

Kuki blinked…once…twice…before understanding what had just happened. Zoro had started ignoring her since they all had pulled the names out of Luffy's hat…and she was the only one to not get a gift yet. Being Zoro, he'd be too embarrassed to be around her knowing that he had to buy her a gift…right? It all made sense now, if she hadn't been over thinking everything so much she would have been able to but two and two together. A smile of relief crept onto her face, she had been so stupid!

"Well open it already." Zoro ordered underneath his breath, looking away as he was not used to these situations.

Kuki's hands slowly tugged at the blue ribbon, pulling it off as the silver wrapping paper fell away from the object, revealing a small bag full of different shaped chocolates. "Thank you." Kuki smiled, looking up to see the blush staining the teen's face.

The girl reached into the bag, bringing out the only white chocolate out and bringing it to her mouth before noticing something in her side view. The tiny girl turned her head to see Franky's new Speedo hanging on the rail above her as well as in between herself and the First Mate. Kuki froze, apparently Zoro noticed as well. The mistletoe image hanging perfectly in view as the pair looked up at it. The Helmsman turned her head away to look at the green-haired man beside her, his eyes were glued to her mouth as she swallowed nervously. The swordsman's face started creeping in closer ever slowly, making the poor girl's heart race to incredible speeds. And just as she felt his breath on her face while his lips were going to brush against hers…he bit down on the chocolate hanging from her mouth, sitting back up immediately after, as well as shaking Kuki out of her daze.

"White chocolate is my favourite." Zoro explained, looking straight ahead as he chewed. Kuki looked up to his face her face turning red as she slowly started chewing her other half of the chocolate. The small blonde leaned against his shoulder, watching the main building of the Sunny.

"Merry Christmas Zoro." She whispered, inhaling deeply as she was comforted by the smell of steel, she wasn't going anywhere.

"You broke my present already! It's still Christmas you asshole!" Sanji screamed, suddenly chasing Luffy out of the kitchen.

"Gomen!"


	41. Chapter 41

**Author's Note: OMG! I actually got a chapter out during midterms! I've been studying so much I was like 'hey why not take a break and write something?' but I didn't know I could get an entire chapter out! I hope you enjoy this chapter! And I'm so excite to write the next one, I can already tell it's going to be one of favourites! Maybe if your review it'll come out sooner? ;) If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

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**pokemonjkl: Aw! Thank you so much! You always have the nicest reviews ^_^ makes me so happy! **

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><p>"<em>No way!"<em>

That was the last thing Kuki could remember before the world around her erupted, the ground crumbled and forced up creating more of a mess. Her back hit a slate of stone and stopped the girl from flying back any further then she already was. The tiny blonde felt the crack more then actually heard the break, after coughing and heaving at the lack of air and sudden shock of pain, she clutched at her side. Why? Why was he here? Why couldn't they just leave? Why couldn't they go back to the lazy days? Why couldn't they just live? Everyone…everyone had worked so god damn hard….fought so fiercely…with everything riding against them…and they had won…they were all going to be ok, all going to leave, and then another opponent had to come around. Zoro had tried his best, beaten past humanly possible to protect the crew currently in his charge while the captain was out. It was so hard to watch him get hurt like that, because he was Zoro…Zoro didn't lose…Zoro was the back bone of the Straw Hats…the back bone of Kuki. The blonde raised her head, why wasn't she crying? After all this pain, stress, and fear surrounding her she felt like she was all dried up. The environment around her was like a battle field, everything was destroyed. Her life was starting to feel like a bad story, the author just wouldn't let her be happy…and the air around Kuki was giving off a terrifying aura, something horrible was going to happen…something locked deep within her was clawing at it's cage, desperately trying to come free, like a built in self defence…a defence that only kicked in when death was near. Kuki removed the hand from her side, accepting that her, already bruised rib that Chopper checked on moments ago, was now broken and that her hand was bleeding, fast. She was going to die. No one could take this much, no one that was weak like Kuki, or at least her mind was telling her that. Fret sank in, the tiny girl reached up to the stone in front of her, trying hard to ignore the waves of pain, as she pulled herself up and over. Rolling over the top of the ledge to the ground in a helpless heap of skin. Kuki lay there, gasping as she starred at the sky. What was she doing? The blonde didn't even know, but the…thing…inside of her was willing the girl to keep moving. Clouds of dust seemed to circle the area where Kuma had set of the 'air bomb'. Kuki was relatively close to where the Shichibukai was standing, a large circular area around the monstrous man was clear, only dirt under his feet, while the diameter was ridge after ridge of jutting rock. Kuki heaved, her body beginning to reject the pain and shutting down.

"_Move!"_

A voice vibrated from within the girl, filling her with the will to go. Kuki pulled her self up and started walking towards the man as he just stood there watching. Suddenly the Helmsman realised the threat, there a few steps in front of her, was the unconscious body of her Captain. Apparently he was still 'sleeping' off his injuries and the blast hadn't moved his body. But Kuki had to get there, Kuma's whole objective was to kill Luffy and take his head back to the government…the tiny girl would die before she let her Captain be killed. The cold, calculating stare of the giant man followed the girl as she limped towards Straw Hat, Not making a noise as the blonde paused while her body retched, blood spewing out of her mouth, only to wipe her face and continue. Kuki fell to the ground between Luffy and the Shichibukai, landing on her knees and hands, panting as her head hung loosely. Kuma started to take steps towards the two, creeping closer as the Helmsman panted. He then stopped in front of her, pausing and then reaching past her towards Luffy.

"Don't you dare!" Kuki hissed, looking up with such hatred, such loathing, anyone who knew the girl would know the blonde was not capable of such a thing.

Kuma stopped, watching the dark, almost black blue starting to take over her eyes. "You'll have to go past me to get at him." The girl explained, hovering over her Captain's body as if she was a predatory cat protecting what was her's.

The sky blue was now gone, completely taken over by the color of a raging ocean. It was no longer Kuki moving her body; it was someone…something else.

"Fine." Kuma answered, raising his hand as if to swipe down at the heavily injured girl. The Helmsman crouched down lower, preparing her self, until.

"Shishi sonson!"

A breeze blew past the girl, and seemed to slice into Shichibukai, forcing the large man to take a couple steps back, away from the girl. With the threat gone, the dark color seemed to recede, back into where ever it came from, making Kuki blink a couple times as she came back to her own mindset.

"_What…just happened?"_

Sparks of electricity forced the tiny girl to look up, over to Kuma who had a large cut across his chest, running along to his shoulder. And a little past him was Zoro, gasping for oxygen as he faced away from the enemy he just attacked, his hand still grasping the hilt of the sword, currently at his side. A large, gauge of some sort was showing threw the sliced fabric of his jacket…he was a cyborg…like Franky?

"Bastard…what are you?" Zoro seemed to notice as well.

Kuki's heart swelled, he was alive. The girl fell to the ground beside Luffy, a hand covering the gash at her side, trying to slow down the bleeding. The First Mate's attention went to his crewmate; there was a small, thick puddle of red liquid by her side. "Shit…" he whispered, grinding his teeth together at the impossible situation, he had to get this Shichibukai away from the both of them.

Speaking of which, Kuma turned to face the swordsman, still no emotion on his face as sparks of electricity jumped off his shoulder. Kuki started to lose consciousness, drifting away from the dirt, blood and dust that were currently in her vision to the dark emptiness of her mind.

"So you finally notice eh?" a voice called out, making the blonde 'jump'.

"W-what?" Kuki turned.

There…in a small cage of some sort was…her. Well not really Kuki, but it looked like herself; the female within the bars had Kuki's light gold hair, same body, and face. But the aura around the other girl was demanding and thick, as if it could suffocate her…and her eyes…they where so dark…as well as the smirk playing on the other 'Kuki's' face… "Haha took you long enough." The female laughed at the Helmsman's quietness.

"What do you mean?" Kuki asked, walking towards the cage, was she dreaming?

"No your not." The dark girl huffed, shifting to stand up, "I'm you. Well, a different part of you."

Kuki stumbled a bit, wide eyed with mouth a-gaped.

"You really think _you _could stand up against Kuma? Force your way threw the pain to get to Luffy? Feel enjoyment to stomp on that Zombie?" the girl paused, walking towards the bars closest to Kuki and grabbing a hold of them, placing her forehead against the cool metal, "Your too weak for that kind of thing, that's why I have to come save the day when things get tuff."

* * *

><p>"Why is it that you must take Luffy's head?!"<p>

Kuki stirred and winced right after, the dulling pain of her side was still coming in waves. "That is as far as I'm willing to compromise." Kuma's flat voice answered.

The Helmsman turned her face to notice Zoro sitting in front of her, the Shichibukai in front of him, and Luffy still safely behind her. The First Mate was panting heavily, just from her back view of him; she could see that the swordsman could carry on no longer. Slowly, Zoro got a hold of his breathing, steadying it. Kuki couldn't handle seeing her saviour like this, his shirt was dirtied, ripped, and not it's usual clean white color.

"Fine, I'll let you have one head…" the First Mate explained calmly.

Kuki's whole being froze over, her skin prickled with pure, utter fear and a cold sweat. What did he mean? What was he saying? Just who's head was he thinking of giving away? The swordsman slammed both hands in front of himself, almost bowing to the Shichibukai; the girl couldn't stand it anymore, she couldn't have the memory of Zoro doing this stuck in her head.

"However, in exchange," Zoro almost shouted, his voice still steady, "Please take my life instead of his!"

Kuki knew this was coming…the First Mate would sacrifice anyone before himself, but to hear him say it…was a whole different thing. Something stirred deep within the girl, but she put all her concentration to holding it down, even if she thought it was a dream…Kuki still didn't like the idea of having to use the other 'Kuki's' power to protect the people she loved.

"My head might not be worth much now, but this is the head of the man who will eventually be the world's greatest swordsman!"

Kuki tried to move, but failed, the pain coming from her side was just too great.

"Despite your great ambition…you still want to protect this man?" Kuma asked, as if he was trying to understand.

"Aside from that…I see no other way to protect the crew…" Zoro added quieter.

Kuki bit down hard on her lip, she couldn't do anything.

"If you can't protect your Captain then your ambition is worthless!" the First Mate continued to explain, "Luffy is the man who will become the pirate king!"

"Now hold on a minute you bastard!" another voice cut in.

Sanji walked towards the group, noticing the pair, supposedly unconscious, Zoro, and Kuma.

"How are you supposed to get ahead if you're dead?" the cook asked, trying to hide his limp as he walked towards the group.

The injured leg was bare, his pants ripped and an arm of his jacket missing, "What about your ambition, Baka?"

Zoro took in a sharp inhale of breath in obvious shock; he thought he was the only one left 'awake'.

"Oi, big guy!" Sanji yelled, walking in front of the First Mate to grab the Shichibukai's attention, "Rather then this marimo head…take mine!"

God dammit, why was everyone offering their lives? As if the crew could continue with their adventure without their cook or First Mate…then it hit Kuki.

"I know the Navy might not consider me a threat as of yet, but soon enough I'll be the one from this crew who will create the most trouble." Sanji exclaimed wobbling as he stood, his leg was injured…badly.

"Why you…" Zoro grunted, anger radiating off of the man as he started to pant once again.

"Come on do it…take my life…instead of his…" the cook ordered, wobbling more, side to side.

Kuma just continued to be silent, watching the situation unfold.

"Oi, tell everyone…to take care…" Sanji said, his words causing Zoro to stiffen, "Looks like you're going to have to find yourselves another cook…"

In an instant Kuki watched Zoro fly up towards the smoker with precise precision, slamming the hilt of his sword into the side of the tall blonde. Forcing the wind out of the cook's lungs, knocking the man out. Kuki almost felt bad for her fellow crew mate, but she was waiting for the First Mate to take action. Sanji slowly slid down to the ground, glaring at the swordsman the entire time.

Kuma looked down at the blonde male then back to the green-haired man, "You can trust me, I will keep my promise." He muttered walking over to Luffy, and placing a hand over his chest.

Kuki held her breath, for her plan to work she needed them to think she was still unconscious.

"Before I claim your sacrifice, I will make you feel Hell." The Shichibukai explained, picking up the rubber-man.

He brought his 'paw' back to Luffy's chest and seemed to push out this large, reddish, paw like balloon. The giant man then put the Captain back down beside the Helmsman and walked back over to his previous space.

"_This is it"_


	42. Chapter 42

**Author's Note: …2 chapters during midterms…what the hell is going on guys? O_O Oh well I'm not complaining haha, who's excited for this chapter!? I enjoyed writing it (even though I admit to rushing a little bit during the end (I've spent soooo muchhhh timmmmmmmeeeeee on this Arc T_T (Well I guess cuz it's one of my favourites teehee))) Anyone else think I've spent a lot of time on this arc? Haha hope you enjoyed it cuz it's coming to an end soon! As always read and review! The more reviews I get the faster I update! If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**TheKennyquin: OMG THE WORLD WILL SURVIVE! O PRAISE THE LORD! Haha and you can now be happy forever! (Until your waiting for the next chapter Muahahaha :3) cough cough… well thank you for reading! And your review made me smile! Enjoy this chapter! **

**Mia-Night: hahahaha well I wanted it too be good! And I feel like it would take Zoro a looooooooooooooooooooooooooo ooooooooooooooooooooooooooon g as time to well kiss a girl hahahaha he may be a badass but he falls pretty short in the romancing selection…or at least I think that xD anyone else with me? No?...anywho thank you ****I like getting reviews but I Love reading interesting ones (other then just saying 'love it') teehee enjoy this chapter!**

**Girl-luvs-manga: Mer I'm so mean eh? ****and you don't know how right you are (hint hint when Kuki confronts Zoro about the situation in the future hint hint)**

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><p>"What I have just repelled from his body was his pain and suffering…" Kuma explained, standing by the floating mass.<p>

The red bubble was even bigger then the giant himself, just how much did Luffy go threw? If Kuki thought about it…really thought about it…her Captain would always fight the strongest opponents as well as receive the worst punishment.

"This is all of the damage he acquired during his battles with Moria and Oz. If you wish to change places then naturally you'd have to take in all of his pain." The Shichibukai added.

Kuki's mind raced, this was it and it was now or never. If she was going to surprise the swordsman in the slightest way it was going to have to be while he was paying attention to Kuma… but would she be able to move fast enough in her condition? Her side was just starting to thicken enough to stop the bleeding, but with any sudden movement it would surely rip open.

"_I'll help."_

The Helmsman paused her thought process; did that voice just…come from her head? _"I'll take the pain, you just keep going."_

…That gir- second Kuki from before…was real? No, that couldn't be possible, and she didn't even seem all that nice during their first 'meeting'…

"_I'm just confident."_ The voice snarled, Kuki could almost 'hear' the 'other girl' breath as if to calm herself, _"…and I protect my own…"_

The bright eyed girl tried to ignore the fact that she did not enjoy the way the girl in her head talked about HER friends…HER Zoro…and focus on the point that she too, whoever 'she' might be, agreed with her plan.

"_I am YOU Baka."_

Kuki got tired of the chatter, not needing this at all, and without noticing she seemed to mentally place up larger, thicker bars around the other girl's cage. The other voice seemed to disappear with a final whisper, _"Go."_

And Kuki did just that, in one fluent motion, the seemingly unconscious blonde was now right behind the First Mate, her blood-smeared hands pressed firmly onto his back.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered quickly, just as Zoro was about to turn, "Air Resistor."

And in a flash of pressure and a gasp of breath, the swordsman fell to the ground, a bruised and battered hand scratching at his throat. This was her newest attack…or well she didn't have it completely down, which was the reason for her hesitation on using it on the green-haired man. It created some sort of 'block' only allowing a certain amount of oxygen past the throat; she had to be precise to make sure there was enough air to stay conscious but not enough to move around…a very iffy attack… Kuki stood up, knowing not to look at the man she had just attacked, so instead she stared down the monster who had just agreed to take…her man's life… Was it ok to think of Zoro like that? To be honest the girl always knew, ever since back in Water 7, that night when she had her first drink, the tiny blonde had realised her attraction to the First Mate. So, now this near to death, she would treat herself to this…it was the least she could do.

"My name is Akuma, Kuki." The Helmsman started to explain clearly, facing the Shichibukai without fear, "Former Buster Call weapon, the government would be much happier to receive my head then his."

The paw man looked down at the past 'sacrifice' hearing him pant and gasp as the man could only focus on getting oxygen to his lungs, then he finally acknowledged the female in front of him.

"Yes…Wind Demon Kuki, I accept."

The tiny girl seemed to exhale in relief; Zoro was safe, that's all that mattered.

"Stop." The swordsman clutched onto the girls leg, looking up at her in complete frustration and terror.

The knuckles in the hand currently holding Kuki in place were ghostly white, as well as his eyes wide and fretful.

"Zoro I-" the girl tried to explain…tried to do something.

"Cut the crap, this was my idea, go back to being unconscious." The First Mate ordered, but the Helmsman could hear the pleading in his voice.

"I wish I was strong enough to carry all of us off this place…but at least I can become strong enough to help you guys escape."

"Killing yourself isn't strength!"

"You were planning on dying as well!"

"It was for my honour."

Kuki sighed, running her hand to push her hair out of her face, "Then let me have some honour."

"No." Zoro grunted threw clenched teeth, almost seeming like a child that disagreed with everything.

"Why are you so dumb?! You're the First Mate; the crew cannot carry on without you! Whoever you're trying to save by giving up your life is just going to die if we carry on anyway!" Zoro seemed shocked with both the small girl's words as well as her tone, "We need Sanji, Nami, Chopper, Ussop, Franky and Robin! All…all that's left is me, Franky and Nami can both steer the ship."

The blonde was starting to choke up on her words, boiling water beginning to pool in the corners of her eyes, "Zoro…since…" her cheeks blushed and a nervous stutter came threw, "Since I'm going to die, I want to tell you that I-"

"Shut up! No you're not!" Zoro bellowed, his grip on her leg tightening, "Stop fooling around!"

He wasn't supposed to even move with the restrictor in place, let alone speak…but then again this was Zoro. Kuki let a small smile claim her face,

"_My Zoro."_

She liked how that sounded; she could die happy if only…

"Don't act like this." The swordsman faltered his hand still attached to the girl's leg, "I want my final memory to be of the Zoro I know, not a broken one."

With the surprise, Kuki moved a few steps closer to the Shichibukai, who was silently watching the whole ordeal, forcing the First Mate to let go.

"Alright, I'm ready." The Helmsman said, staring the paw-man down with a new found confidence.

"Since you're so close to death, you will die if you take all of his pain." Kuma explained, still emotionless.

The blonde smiled, she didn't get to 'complete' her confession…but it was fine, she admitted it to herself and that's all that mattered, "I understand."

"Here," the Shichibukai 'pawed' a small portion of the red blob to float towards the tiny girl, "have a taste."

Kuki watched the bubble 'bounce' in her direction, it was no bigger then a softball so it couldn't hurt that bad…right? Her eyes followed the paw as it entered her chest.

"This isn't-" the blonde stopped, there was nothing, until it fully entered her body.

The reddish bubble seemed to disperse into a bunch of morning stars, running rapid inside her, terrible tremors of spikes sliding up and down her spine. The Helmsman couldn't explain the pain; she fell to the ground, her fingers creating trails in the dirt, seemingly trying to escape the pain that erupted inside. Her head was full of screams, bloodcurdling cries of mercy…but only half of them were hers; it seemed like Kuki number two was feeling the same torture she was going threw. And then, within seconds, it was over. The blonde laid flat on the ground, gasping for air as she heard nothing but muffled noises…

"Kuki! Kuki!" Zoro begged for an answer, this was worse…worse then anything watching her struggle like that…and it wasn't even half of the 'pain'…there was still so much…

Kuki's head lolled to the side, she watched the First Mate's mouth open as if he was screaming at her, never was she ever going to be able to erase the image of this 'Zoro' from her mind.

"How was it?" Kuma asked, still silently watching.

Apparently her hearing was back, the girl clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms to bring the girl back to…real pain…not that of the red paw.

"Just…let me choose a location."

"_I'm not putting Zoro threw any more by watching me go threw this."_

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm…I'm too tired…I'm taking a nap…"<em>

Kuki chuckled; the 'other' girl was too good to admit to pain.

"Ok…thank you. I'm sorry that…we have to die."

"_Hm, not like I care, just be prepared for our side, jump in that bubble before we faint."_ Oh ya, the girl inside of the Helmsman was still holding in all of the blonde's real pain…she really was strong.

_You know, if we were to carry on you would become strong too…"_

"Well that's too late now isn't it?"

"_I guess so, good bye."_

And with that, Kuki's mind was reasonably clearer, and then the right side of her waist seemed to rip open and flow a steady warmth. Kuma had abided to her request, leaving her in an area far enough from the crew so it would be hard to find her, as well as 'leaving' himself. Did she really believe that he had left? No, he was probably hiding somewhere, watching to make sure she did indeed die…as well as to take back her head to the government. It kind of made her laugh, the fact that her first memories were with the government, and now she was going to 'end' there…the place she so desperately tried to get away from…it was almost comical…almost. Suddenly, the small girl was forced against the stone block she was leaning upon. At first she only noticed the pain, the hot white flash in front of her eyes, then the hands on her shoulder and the heat that she felt from them.

"Zoro…" the Helmsman uttered the name before she even opened her eyes, "How?" "Make it stop!" the First Mate ordered, his face smothered by the pain in his eyes, "Make it stop now!"

"W-what are you talking about?" Kuki asked, whimpering at the man being so close yet so far away.

"Why, why is it that I can't control myself around you!? I can't focus, I can't think of anything when you're around! I don't understand what's happening, just make it stop." The swordsman ranted, not realising how his voice or breath was affecting the girl he was yelling at.

Kuki's heart stumbled along with tears now, after all this time, freely running down her face, "Then let me go, it'll stop if you just let me go."

Zoro stopped in his tracks, trying to process what was going on. He turned slightly to look over his shoulder, watching the terrifying red blob float slightly up then down. as if taunting them.

"How could you possibly think I could do that? Just let you die?" the First Mate spat the words as if they were poison.

The green-haired man let go of Kuki's shoulders, bringing his lips to her forehead swiftly, "It's my turn to say goodbye."

With that he turned and sprinted towards the paw.

"No!" the tiny blonde wailed, running after him, even threw the tearing pain of the slice at her side.

Her hand flew out, clutching desperately onto the tearing white fabric at Zoro's back. Kuki wouldn't let him go in by himself, and with that they entered the bubble of Luffy's suffering together.


	43. Chapter 43

**Author's Note: Heyyyyyyyyooooooo! Omg guess what?! We're closing in on chapter 50! As well as review number 100! I'm thinking about creating a special prize for the 100****th**** review! Haven't picked one out yet but I will! Oh and I liked writing this chapter :3 quite interesting, and a bit of foreshadowing to the next arc, I've decided to make my own Arc! Trying it out and I'm praying I'm gunna do good! Enjoy this Chapter and as always review! Maybe the prize for the 100****th**** will be a one-shot with Kuki and Zoro to the reviewers liking ;) MAYYYYBBBBEEEE If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Pokemonjkl: Ah! Don't die! Someone find the smelling salts we can't allow one of my favourite reviewers to die! Hahaha (I'm a lil crazy ;3 ) Thank you for being a regular reviewer and hope you enjoy this chapter :3**

**Mia-Night: haha don't worry…Zoro's pretty much…well….imortal…come on with all the shit he's taken? I think he might be a pirate terminator…..any who thanks for reading!**

**Girl-luvs-manga: Aw I'm glad someone thinks like me! While writing all I could think about was that tragic pair haha a lil sad? Maybe but hey just makes the story all the more interesting ;) **

**Dhalmi93: Aw thank you soooooooooo muuuuchhhh! :D I always get excited when I get messages/reviews from readers that enjoy my story :3 makes me feel all warm and fuzzy haha enjoy this chapter! And thank you for that great review haha do it more often ;D**

* * *

><p>"Ugh…" the smoker ran his hand across his side as he tried to sit up.<p>

The stinging lump over his rib was swollen, bruised, and painful. What had happened? His other hand was supporting him on the dirt ground. A few feet away from the cook the rest of the crew was gathered, Luffy jumping up and down, Ussop screaming, Chopper shocked… wait Luffy was jumping? How could the captain even be standing with all of the damage he had taken? Sanji's foot slid out, knocking over something behind the lanky man.

"No…"

There on the ground, was Zoro's three, sacred swords… the marimo-head wouldn't go anywhere without those things…so why were they in the dirt? The hilts had created a reddish streak where the smoker's foot had moved them, spreading the blood and making Sanji cringe. Without notice he broke out into a run, ignoring the calls of the crewmates behind him, blazing down the sides of broken stone, jumping over fallen trees…he had to find him. Where was the bastard?! Then in the corner of his eye, he saw the figure of the swordsman, turned, with his back towards the cook. With a sigh of relief, the blonde man started walking towards the figure.

"Squish"

With a pause, Sanji lifted his foot, noticing the sticky red substance underneath it…as well as all over the ground. Creating some sort of huge circle around Zoro…who was still unmoving in the centre of it.

"What do you think your doing?!" Sanji screamed, angry at the marimo-head for making him worry.

After receiving no reply the smoker took a closer look, realising that the swordsman was literally dripping in his own blood, his white shirt was now in pieces, hanging on by small, frail threads, basically topless.

"What the hell is with all this blood?!" he asked, the whole scenery was painted red.

The First Mate grunted, causing the cook to walk around him, hoping to get his attention. Suddenly Sanji almost lost his balance, there in Zoro's arms Kuki was cradled, but was it even one of his angels? She too was soaked in the tacky blood; her head was hanging back so far that no one conscious could lay that way, one arm also sticking out cuts covering every inch of visible skin.

"W-what…" he muttered, shaking in place.

The Helmsman's skin was snow white, paler then usual, and to be honest it scared him…she looked still…lifeless…dead. Sanji reached a hand towards the girl, so much red…too much red…

"No." Zoro cringed, if he moved his entire stability would crumble together, leaving him on the ground, this was his last bit of energy.

"Is she still alive!? Are you alright?! What happened here?!" the cook screamed, not knowing what to do or how to react.

The first Mate's bottom lip quivered as he tried to speak, so much pain radiating off of everywhere, "A-absolutely…" he started, staring off into the nothingness in front of him, "n-nothing."

* * *

><p>"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"<p>

The soft, eerie music seemed to waft threw the air, drifting along with the heavy mist that shrouded Kuki's vision.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

The usually happy, 'wedding' song seemed sad and lonely. Where was she? What was with the music? The Helmsman had been standing there for what seemed like minutes, not understanding a thing.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

The music seemed to beckon the tiny female, with having nothing to lose the girl walked towards the music, slowly with having no vision. The closer she got the more the tune seemed to change…into some sort of violin style, but the music still carried the same depressing tone. Suddenly, Kuki noticed the ground beneath her feet change into what her brain explained as 'the deck of the Sunny-Go'. Still following the music, a tall, incredibly skinny figure could be seen threw the fog. The closer she got, the clearer the image became.

"Brooke?"

And sure enough, there the skeleton was, facing over the rails of Sunny as he strummed lightly back and forth on his violin. It was so…sad, so lonely…the song that was used in weddings while the bride walked down the aisle was now being heard in such a way that it wasn't even recognisable.

"Brooke?" Kuki asked again, walking closer to the musician.

He hadn't acknowledged her at all yet.

"Hello?" the tiny blonde reached out slowly, reaching for the skeleton's back.

As soon as the girl made contact the Helmsman was thrown back into the thick mist, nothing around except for that same sad song.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

The blonde started looking around, "Brooke? Brooke?! Where did you go!" she was starting to get a bit frightened.

After a few long, blind minutes, Kuki started walking towards the music again. It seemed like that would be the only way to get out of the suffocating thickness that blanketed her once again. Each music note became clearer and louder as she stepped towards them again, this time she found herself in Franky's workshop. Seeing three figures this time, all huddled together muttering. Kuki stepped closer, trying to get a good look and hear what they were saying.

"Now you three?" she whispered, confused as she saw Ussop, Chopper, and Franky all dressed up together.

"You have to finish getting dressed." The sharpshooter claimed.

The music fell into the background, slightly dulled. The three males were currently wearing black suits, all nicely done up…except for the shipwright who was missing his pants, typical. Like before, they didn't even notice Kuki standing beside them.

"Tch…she can't expect me to wear pants…" the cyborg said, trying to defend himself with a grim face.

To be honest, all three looked upset…why?

"I…I just can't understand *sniff* why she would leave us…" the small doctor whimpered, tugging on the edge of his hat, even though it clashed with the suit, he still looked cute, like always.

The three fell silent, deadly silent…

"Well…we can't do anything…" Ussop explained, breaking the silence.

Franky ran a hand threw his hair, turning away from his two team mates and shaking his head.

"B-but I don't want her to leave…"

Kuki couldn't stand it anymore; she kneeled down and tried to pull Chopper into her arms, only to be sucked back into the thick fog. A salty wetness hung in the corners of her eyes, seeing the doctor like that literally could break her heart, he looked so crushed, so hurt, so lonely.

"Stop this!" the Helmsman screamed out, waving her arms as if to hit the mist surrounding her away.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

The music seemed to circle around the small blonde, as if trying to drive her crazy. The notes danced around her and then ran off into the distance, Kuki chased after them. Maybe, just maybe, if she could reach them faster, she could find a way out of this…maybe. The tiny girl skidded to a stop; she somehow ended up in the female quarters…Nami doing Robin's hair. The pair of them didn't notice Kuki's presence either as they sat in depressing silence.

"It's going to be different without her here…" Nami muttered, slowly running her brush down the Archaeologist's silky black hair.

It then started to click in the Helmsman's head, this was about her, she was the last female left…and she was leaving? What was with the wedding music? The tone was still playing in the background and seemed like it would never leave. Was she dreaming? Was this about her marrying Zoro in this…dream? And leaving the crew? Kuki grabbed her hair with her hands, almost pulling it out with the stress on her mind.

"I just wonder how swordsman-san will take it…all of a sudden just wanting to marry another guy…" Robin added, her face looking slightly upset.

"…what?" the girl walked over to the bed the two girls were sitting on, "What is going on?" the pair still didn't see her, "Hey!" the tiny blonde raised her voice, "Tell me what's happening!" and with that Kuki reached to shake the two females, only to have her surroundings, along with her friends, to dissipate into nothing but swirling grey and white.

The poor girl fell to her knees, "Somebody!" she screamed, stressing her throat.

Everyone was leaving her, she was going to be alone, and as soon as she touched them they would leave. There was only two people left…and they were going to be the most heartbreaking. She refused to go along with Luffy and Zoro disappearing in front of her, because after them she would be truly and utterly alone.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

The music tried to beckon her, call the girl towards it but she refused, knowing all too well what would be awaiting her. So instead, the tiny blonde just stayed put, on her knees, blinded by the fog.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

The notes seemed to come closer to her instead this time, bringing along with it the 'head' of the Sunny.

"No." she ordered.

This was Luffy's place, which meant the figure sitting on Sunny…was her Captain.

"No."

If Kuki didn't go along with the music, the music would bring the horrid loneliness to her.

"Kuki?" the rubber-man's voiced forced the girl to weep.

Her chest was shaking violently, "No, get away, don't touch me."

"Shanks told me once that a girl's dream revolved around marriage…so I can't exactly tell you not to go get married…"

Once again, on and on about marriage! What was going on?!

"But can't you just bring him along with us? Even though I don't really like him all that much…" Luffy mumbled, pouting.

"I'm not getting married!" the tiny blonde exclaimed trying to get threw.

Her Captain nodded 'hearing' the exact opposite of what Kuki had said, "Oh, ok. Just remember that we'll always be Nakama."

The rubber man reached out, trying to grab a hold of the girl's hand.

"No…" the Helmsman had no time to react before the scene playing before her disappeared, "Luffy…even you left me…"

The music started thundering, screeching into her ears.

"I refuse! You can't make me." The broken girl tried again, only this time she shut her eyes, cradling her head in between her knees.

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

the music was demanding her to look, to watch,

"Dun-Dun-Da-Dun"

it kept calling, kept trying to reach out for her, until…it seemed to disappear. Nothing…she could hear nothing, except for the lapping of waves. The slight motion forced the girl's body to rock back and forth. The sea, nothing felt as natural to her at this moment then sitting on a deck that was in the middle of the open water. But was it real? Could she really open her eyes? Would she be able to take this risk? The sun seemed to be out; the tiny girl could feel its ray caressing her open skin, willing for her to open her eyes.

_"The mist is gone…I must be home…"_ Kuki reasoned, fluttering her eyelashes.

There…in front of the helmsman…leaning on the railing of the Sunny…was Zoro. He had long, black pants on, an unbuttoned, un-tucked white dress shirt on, with a tuxedo jacket hanging on the white railing beside the swordsman, flowing in the slight breeze. The man ran a hand threw his hair, sighed and slammed both fists in the railing's top.

"What is she doing?" the First Mate grunted, looking at the black silky jacket, only to grab it and throw the offensive piece into the ocean, "God dammit!"

"No…this can't be happening…" Kuki whispered, she was still here…Zoro was going to disappear, he was going to leave her…

"Huh?" the green-haired teen turned, seeing the girl crumpled on the deck, "Oh…Kuki…I didn't notice you."

Zoro took some steps towards the Helmsman, slow, small, but steady steps.

"N-no." the girl muttered, trying to slide away until her back hit the side building.

Her blue eyes widened and she stood up with the supporting wall behind her.

"I…I just need to know why, for god sakes I deserve that much." The First Mate reasoned, placing one hand on either side of the blonde girl's shoulders.

Kuki flinched, not wanting him to touch her, "P-please…"

"Just…let me have this…" he muttered, his breath sending tingles down her neck, "Just let me prove to you…that you're making a mistake." His hand slid across the ruff wood, creeping towards her cheek.

Then, with out notice, the poor girl was truly

_alone_


	44. Chapter 44

***Re-Uploaded because I was half asleep when I uploaded and didn't finish editing :( my bad )**

**Author's Note: HEY! 100****th**** review was reached! Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing :3 you all make my day :D In this chapter I was going to make Zoro and Kuki have a big 'ol fight but then I was like "I think Kuki would be smart enough to say 'hey I'm alive and shouldn't waste it fighting' so I changed my original idea xD Hope you guys enjoy it! And reviews would be nice ^^ Sorry if this chapter is a little rushed ( A.K.A I want to get on to the next Arc ) If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Pokemonjkl: Hehehe…I'm a tad bit evil, but as you can see this story is continuing so no she didn't die haha and I promise that dream WILL make sense in a while…but until then I'm not giving out any hints cause, once again, I'm Evil but thank you for reviewing! :D**

**TheKennyquin: Ah I know…I'm a horrible person…sometimes I think I live off of making Kuki's life horrible…but then I'm like she got to 'share a bath plus kiss Zoro' …so it makes up for that ;D Don't cha think? **

**Girl-luvs-manga: I know I know it'll make sense in a bit I promise! Until then I'll give you a cyber cookie? :3 **

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan: DingDingDing we got a smart one over here! I didn't think anyone else would notice the whole 'fake funeral' I tried to put in there! Good for you to notice! And I know…I'm mean to everyone, it felt bad to 'write' Zoro going threw that D: Thank you for reviewing and reading! **

**Ruby: Oh God…I forgot about Sanji! How bad of an author to forget someone!? He was supposed to be with Chopper, Ussop, and Franky T_T Oh god I feel horrible, I put the cook threw so much already…and know I forget him? Thank you for reminding me! T_T I'll make it up to him…one day… thank you for reviewing!**

**Dhalmi93: 100****th**** reviewer! Means you get 100 cookies! Lolz Thank you for reviewing! And I know…I'm bad with cliff hangers (if you haven't noticed) And thank you so much! :D You seriously make me feel awesome! And thank you for the tip! I'll look into it! :D **

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><p>Kuki started hobbling down the dirt path, finding her way to the graveyard. Apparently Zoro had awoken before her and made his own way to the same destination, and she needed to find him…needed to talk to him. The tiny girl sighed, remembering how she, herself, had come too moments ago.<p>

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><p>"No!" the helmsman screamed, sitting up and flailing around.<p>

With eyes were sewn shut, she wasn't going to risk anything this time, she was trying to…needing to get the mist to leave her. It was suffocating how much it was around her, surrounding her. Arms, the mist formed solid arms, forcing her to lie back down.

"No! No!" Kuki yelled again, hitting the greyish manifestations.

If they got her down again, she would be there forever… or at least that was what her brain was telling her.

"Kuki! Calm down! You'll rip your stitching!" a voice ordered.

"No." the helmsman whispered this time.

It had to be the fog…it was trying to trick her.

"I don't want to be alone! Stop!"

More arms now, four, forcing her, holding her deeper, deeper into the swirling loneliness.

"Stop, your hurting yourself! Wake up! Open your eyes! Look around, you're not alone! We're all here!"

"N-Nami?" she muttered.

No, don't trust it…last time…last time it made Zoro disappear.

"Yes, yes. Now please just breathe and open your eyes"

The blonde paused, as if thinking over the idea. What else did she have to lose? Everyone was gone… Slowly, ever slowly she peeled back her eye lids.

"C-Chopper…Nami…is it really you…I can't hear the music…" the Helmsman stuttered, her eyes skimming over everything, nervous…sceptical…

The young doctor and navigator had matching worried looks on their faces. Did she hit her head…and if so just how hard?

"What are you talking about? Yes it's us." The red-head reached her hand over to Kuki's shoulder mid-sentence, trying to give the poor, battered teen some comfort.

The Helmsman flinched, "No! Don't touch me!" her voice echoed threw-out the room, causing the many occupants to look over at the situation.

There were so many people here that Kuki didn't know…so many faces…watching her…looking at her. A hand fell upon the girl's opposite shoulder, the one she wasn't protecting. Her heart stopped, literally stop as she waited to be carried away…away from all of the familiar and non-familiar people, only she didn't.

"Helmsman-Chan, are you alright?" Robin asked a soothing smile on her lips.

The small girl's emotions broke threw, tears, huge globs of salty liquid started raining from her eyes. Her palms started shaking as she tried wiping them away, everyone was shocked. What was happening? Was she in pain?

"I…I missed you guys so much!"

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><p>Kuki finally made it to the cast iron gate that signified her arrival at the Graveyard. She leaned against the black, rusty post, needing a short pause from the throbbing pain at her side. Chopper had strongly disagreed with her little 'stroll' but the fact that she had been sleeping for a basically a day and a half gave the Helmsman a good reason for some exercise and to stretch out all her limbs.<p>

"Watch out for the stitching though, don't pull your side, ok?" the young doctor had stressed.

Apparently she had received seventeen of them, holding the sliced skin together, and if ripped it would be quite a pain to sew back together. All-in-all the poor girl had received the cut on the back of her head, which was taken care of with four stitches and a bandage wrapping around the wound to her forehead, her back was purple and sickly green with some internal bruising, her fingers were all wrapped as well as a bit numb, and she had small scratches all over her arms and legs. To sum it all up…the teen felt like shit…complete and utter shit, but she was relieved to have…well actually participated in the fight…helped her crewmates instead of sitting back and watching them do all the work, but Kuki hadn't decided whether it was worth all the worrying she had caused them.

_"You know, if we were to carry on you would become strong too…"_

What that 'other' Kuki had said popped up into her mind…with more training she too could become a valid part of the team. The girl sucked in a bunch of air as she prepared to set off again. Zoro was supposed to be here and she needed to talk with him.

"Oh, Kuki-Tan." Brook said, turning to see the girl walking up towards him.

The musician was sitting cross-legged, by himself, in front of some sort of extravagant memorial.

"Ugh, you can just call me Kuki…only Sanji really uses _that _name…" the Helmsman mumbled, silently cursing the cook's 'nick name'.

"Oh, Gomen. I had just heard Sanji-San use it so I just thought you wanted that type of thing!" the skeleton's 'joke' was soon followed by a "Yohohohohoho!"

Kuki slowly slid down beside Brook, giving him a quick glare before clapping her hands together and giving the Skeleton's old crew a quick farewell. The musician stopped his laughter and slanted his head to the side.

"The others told me what I missed…" the Helmsman explained, opening her eyes while placing a hand on each knee.

"Ah…" Brook replied, the air around them becoming thick and awkward, "So you know I'm part of the crew now?"

The silence dissipated with the new, lighter, topic.

"Yup, welcome aboard by the way. Oh and did you happen to see Zoro around here? I came looking for him…" the small girl trailed off, noticing that the swordsman was indeed…not in the graveyard but a small distance in front of her was the top half of his broken sword protruding from the dirt.

"Yohohoho, yes he left shortly before you arrived, he said that he was going back to check on you…" the skeleton started eyeing the girl as she struggled to sit up without disturbing her cut.

"What?" Kuki asked slowly, eyeing the man back.

"Oh nothing…" Brook started giggling like a little school girl, "Just noticing that the First Mate and Helmsman seem a bit close."

The blonde stumbled a bit before making an 'x' in front of her body with her two arms, "No, nothing like that." She stuttered, trying to get this conversation over quick, "He's just the one who saved me that's all…I'm indebt to him."

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><p>"Ok…" Kuki was back at the gate, staring at the last standing building, which everyone was currently inhabiting, "Which way would I go if I was Zoro…" without much thought, the Helmsman turned 180 degrees, facing the opposite direction, "This way." The girl answered, pointing a finger down the dirt path.<p>

After a few minutes of hobbling, sure enough, Zoro came into view.

His back was towards the girl as he lightly kicked a tree, grumbling "Stop confusing me and show me the way." under his breath.

A slight smile came to her face, "I don't think it's the tree's fault."

The First Mate turned around and looked at her, "Kuki, why are you walking around?"

The Helmsman started a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her neck, "A lot of convincing?" she tried to say as he strolled towards her.

"Tch, you should be up and about with those injuries." The First Mate mumbled looking over all of her bandages.

"You're not in a position to be telling me that…"

But really, he had nothing substantially wrong, sure he looked beat up but nothing the crew hadn't witnessed before. Why was it that even though they both went threw the same thing together she still came out worse…just how strong was Zoro…just how weak was Kuki? The pair started off in the right way, back down the dirt road.

"At least I got a better sense of direction then you, that's something." The tiny girl tried joking, wanting to break up the haunting atmosphere that hung between them.

Zoro just huffed under his breath. The walk back was quiet and awkward, neither was talking…neither knew what to say. By the time they reached the side of the building, Kuki stopped.

"Hm?" the swordsman asked, turning to look at her.

"We need to talk." She mumbled, placing a light hand over her bandaged side.

The walk was hard; her side was throbbing even more. The teen's view fell upon her injury, his dark eyes clouded with what the Helmsman took as regret.

"You…you can't blame yourself for this." Kuki motioned towards her wounds, slightly shocked with her revelation.

The First Mate only looked away.

"Hey, this is my fault! I got myself injured, I got myself hurt. Simple." She tried to say, getting a bit upset with the fact that he still felt the need to protect her.

"If I was stronger then no one-"

"Don't start with that! You know getting hurt comes along with the job prescription of being a criminal?" Kuki raised her voice, "I'm a PIRATE, just like you, just like the rest of the crew, we ALL get hurt, and you just need to get over it."

The both of them stopped, Kuki sighed. Right now? They didn't need to fight…they were alive, and they should be celebrating. "

You don't think I know that already? Didn't I already explain myself to you?" He asked, not looking at the girl.

_"Why, why is it that I can't control myself around you!? I can't focus, I can't think of anything when you're around! I don't understand what's happening, just make it stop."_

The words Zoro had screamed at the girl before they both jumped into the menacing, red paw echoed threw her mind.

"You…you could have just let me go and then it would have stopped."

The First Mate punched the wall beside them, making the Helmsman jump.

"And how exactly do you think I could allow you to go and die in front of me?!"

Kuki closed her eyes and pushed her palm harder onto her stitching, the sudden jarring movement was painful.

Zoro's eyes softened as he unclenched his hand, "You're in pain, we should go in."

Just as he was about to carry on walking, the tiny girl stopped him again, "Just one more thing…" he paused but never turned around, "I don't need an answer right away, but I'd like one…."

He was still waiting patiently, "If Luffy and I were going to die…and you could only save one of us…who would it be?"

"Luffy wouldn't need my help…"

"I'm being serious…I'd like an answer some time…"

The swordsman clenched his two fists, the atmosphere thickening greatly. This…this was the girl's greatest fear…Luffy mattered, Luffy was the one connecting everyone together…it shouldn't have been hard for the 'First Mate' to answer. If she was in that situation? She would save Zoro and then he could save Luffy…simple…but it was different for her, she wasn't the second in command. It made her feel a bit bad for placing the swordsman into that position, but it wasn't enough to change her opinion... he needed to understand that the Captain _always_ came first.


	45. Chapter 45

**Author's Note: BLahhhh! Two! In such short time! Haha ( do I get extra reviews for being fast? ) lolz, this is like the 'intro' to the next arc (which is one of my own creating) I'm half asleep at the moment…it's one o-clock…and I have ten hours of work tomorrow…fml… A.K.A if it sucks…you now know why…anyway enjoy! If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Girl-luvs-manga: Haha thanks for agreeing with Kuki ( I bet she would appreciate it) and ya I guess she is but with her I think because of basicly spending her life locked up, now being free she feels like every day is a gift, so for her friends she'd sacrifice it, because her days are 'gifts' and theirs are 'normal'…does that make sense? Man I suck at describing things…but thank you for your review! Rnjoy the chapter!**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan: I know! I thought I made it obvious ****and I know I woke up the next morning and was like…wtf? I went back and edited (paragraphs, spacing…the whole sha-bang xD) Sorry about killing your eyes with a large block of words T_T thank you for sticking it out…I appreciate your determination! :D And your right, the next arc is supposed to be mermaid one…but I'm making my own!...be scared…be very scared… **

**SoulAuron: haha thank you! And I know when I first started my writing skills were…piss poor at best, the only reason I haven't gone back and re-wrote my earlier chapters is because I have no time T_T I want to update but I want to fix it…I'm thinking about ending this soon and creating another (One Piece In The Wind 2) just so I get a new start haha. And I have! I'm working on my own Arc at the moment :D Thank you though! As well as for the review!**

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><p>"Everyone, good morning!"<p>

Kuki shuffled in the bed, there was little to no light in the women's cabin, revealing that it was still early morning.

"Then a waking piece!"

The three females all placed a pillow over their heads, subconsciously preparing them selves for what was about to come.

"White Handkerchief!" Brooke began to bellow, playing the 'extra' high notes on his violin on purpose.

"Shut-Up!"

Kuki could hear Zoro scream, if anything, the swordsman did appreciate his sleep… But the musician still carried on.

"The sun hasn't even risen!" Sanji hollered.

Suddenly, the captain's extremely loud snoring broke threw Brooke's 'music'…Kuki grunted a little into her pillow. How hard was it to get a little sleep around here? And was it just her or did Luffy's snore start competing for 'loudness' against the violin?

Nami sprung up, ripping her pillow in two as a deranged look crossed her face, "Forget about Brooke and stop Luffy's snoring!"

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><p>"Kuki, how have you been feeling?" Chopper asked, looking threw his old cabinet, trying to find his fabric scissors.<p>

The Helmsman shifted in anticipation, the slight movement making the 'bed' crunch. Why was it that medical beds were so uncomfortable?

"Good. My side is a little bit annoying, my fingers are still a bit numb, but other then that everything else is fine."

She had been waiting for the young doctor to take off her bandages, to be honest? They were aggravating to wear day in and day out, restricting her movement, itching…

"Ok, I'll check your head first." Chopper mumbled, finding his tool and carefully pulling the wrapping away from the back of her head.

"Snip."

Ah, how could the girl explain it? It felt like taking off a pair of socks after a long day's wear…it felt great.

"Seems like it healed fine…" the Doctor mumbled, lightly probing the healed pinkish skin, getting straight to work on the threading.

A smile rose to the Helmsman's face, she wanted to run a hand threw the matted hair at the back of her head. The reindeer then hopped down over to the longer edge of the bed, motioning for the girl to lie down on her side so that the injury was facing upwards. He tried pulling at the fabric slowly, like before, but the bandage stuck to the stitched skin, creating a tug. Kuki hissed a small bit, but tried to cover it. She didn't want the disgrace of still wearing the offensive white cloth… of being the only crewmate left still healing. It had been a few days since they're departure from that hellish boat. Everyone had treated the Helmsman with 'extra' care, not allowing her to move anything heavy, not allowing her to train, not allowing her to climb up to the crows nest…not even allowing her to help out with dishes. She felt like a child surrounded by adults, helpless. Kuki just wanted these things off, maybe then everyone would realise she wasn't breakable, maybe then they would remember her actually being part of the crew and not some china doll.

"Snip."

The bandaging around her side slid down her stomach, fresh air hitting the oxygen deprived skin.

"Ah." The tiny girl sighed, wanting so badly to stretch, but knew that it would hinder Chopper and his work.

It felt weird, to say the least, to have the stitching pulled out, she could feel the threads moving underneath her skin…it made her shiver.

"There, all good!" The doctor smiled just as he pulled out the last knot.

Kuki finally stretched, and then checked on the pink, fleshy line…

"It's…it's not going to be a scar is it?"

The Helmsman already had enough of those…it would kill her to have another. The reindeer paused then placed a hoof on the healed wound, making the blonde girl look up to him.

"No, it'll heal just fine." Chopper reassured, smiling all the while.

Kuki gave her head a quick nod, pulling down the edge of pastel green tank top. The hem was much shorter in the front then the back, covering her scars while showcasing her belly button, paired with rusty, blue jean short-shorts.

"Now…" the girl continued, a smile coming up onto her face as well, "How about we get these off too?"

The helmsman was joking around, wiggling her fingers as if she was doing some sort of 'jazz hands', but…for some reason, Chopper's face fell…a grim set in his cute features. "What's wrong?" the Helmsman asked, allowing her bandaged hands to fall onto her knees.

The young doctor didn't answer, he just slowly picked up her right hand and started unwrapping one of her fingers.

"What…" the girl stopped.

She couldn't breath, she couldn't think…how many days had it been? A Week? Why? Why was her finger still like this?! In a frantic state, the tiny girl ripped off the rest of the wrappings. One by one, making her stomach inch its way up to her throat.

"N-n…w-w…" the poor teen stuttered, unable to comprehend.

"Breath…breath…I know, I had suspected this…since they were still like…that…when I treated you after Moria was defeated. I just didn't know what to say…" the reindeer tried to explain, he didn't want the Helmsman having another panic attack like before, "I just hoped that they would heal…"

Every one of Kuki's finger tips were tainted that sickening purple, running along to each first knuckle, only a little bit past her nail bed. Looking close enough where the stain ended it looked like purple flames licking their way up to her hands. When she had used the attack against that demon-like Shichibukai…just what had happened differently to cause this? Where the purple resided the skin was a bit numb, as if she had been sitting on it for a long time.

"Don't worry; we'll do some tests on the poison. You told me Lucci had an antidote, right? That means I can make one, maybe…just maybe we can cure all the poison inside you, take it all out."

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><p>"Going to deliver Bink's Sake." Kuki hummed, holding the Sunny's helms firmly between her hands.<p>

It felt nice to be where she belonged, this was her job, this made her feel calm. "Following the sea breeze, riding on the waves."

The rest of her day had dragged by; she had bandaged her fingers back up with the fact that she did not want anyone else to know, as well as forcing Chopper to not tell anyone about it. The Helmsman was sick of all the worried looks her Nakama were giving her; this would just create more anxiety. Her hands were turning the large wheel, with nowhere to go, since the anchor was currently deep within the ocean, but the 'feeling' it gave her was relaxing. After a long 'talk' she had convinced everyone that she was up to, at least, being on watch for the night.

"Yohohoho! Kuki-San, you like that song?"

The skeleton scared the girl, making her shriek a little. The Helmsman spun around, trying to catch her breath as the extremely tall man walked towards her.

"Brook! You scared me…" she gasped, holding a hand over her heart.

"Ah, Gomen." The musician apologised, strolling beside the girl and then leaned against the railing of the Sunny-Go.

His deep, dark holes for eyes seemed to be gazing out to the ocean, still filled with the frustration Kuki had noticed earlier on in the day.

"Still upset huh?" the Helmsman asked, leaving the comfort of the steering wheel to the white railing.

The skeleton looked a bit shocked, staring at her for a moment until he sighed.

"Well, I know how you feel. When I joined I felt…lost in the mix? Everyone was so overwhelming, their strengths, their powers, their personalities…and then there was me." She tried to explain.

Brook's jaw bone almost hit the floor, "B-but you're 'Wind Demon, Akuma Kuki'! You have the third highest bounty on this ship with 100 million berris, as well as the Buster Call's old weapon!"

The girl slapped her face, sliding the palm down dramatically. Brook was watching her with admiration…unrightfully gained admiration.

"Look, Brook that bounty isn't about my fighting capability…" Kuki tried to explain, placing her chin into one of her palms.

"Eh?" the musician asked, 'picking' his jaw off the deck.

"Imagine a fruit that could stop every other boat in a distance and make one go faster then any sailor has ever seen?"

With that Brook fell silent…the thought was truly frightening.

"As well as manually create wind storms, capsize boats, control the air itself…you get the picture. The government isn't 'scared' of me…their scared of what the fruit I have eaten can become." She mumbled, twirling her free hand around, making a two-inch size tornado on her ring finger, which was pointed up to the sky.

"Y-you can do all that?" the musician asked, the idea was crazy.

"Nope, I can't even turn my body into my element…even though I have a Logia." Kuki explained wistfully, clenching her circling hand into a fist, dispersing the tornado.

The pair paused, not knowing what to say…only having the waves lapping up the side of the Sunny.

"Excuse my asking…but how did you get such a crazy fruit?" Brook asked, interested in the girl's power.

"You're the first person in the crew who's asked me about my past…" She had just guessed that everyone had thought it was a 'bad' topic.

The Skeleton was just about to speak again, but the Helmsman raised her hand to signify him to shush.

"My earliest memory is when I was four…I was on this island…some place where I knew no one." The girl spoke reflectively, she hadn't gone back to those memories in so long…it felt good to get it off her chest a bit.

"I just remember feeling so lonely…so alone. It was late at night, and I was standing at the port area. People, people I didn't know were surrounding me, trying to get me away, get me away from the body on the ground."

Brook inhaled, shocked, obviously thinking the worse…that a four year old Kuki had killed someone.

"It was my mom…I don't remember what she looked like really, I just remember seeing her laying there, belly down, on the ground, her hair looked like mine does now, but longer, and it covered most of her body…" the Helmsman ran her fingers threw out her own 'mane', "I think we were on a vacation of some sort, or just traveling, but I know that we had just arrived to that island but the ship was caught in the storm. We barley made it to land and apparently my mom was one of the many who…didn't make it." Kuki was deep in her own pensive thoughts, recalling the memory image for image, "The sailors, whose boat we were riding on, tried pulling me away, tried prying me away from my mom's body, but I didn't understand why. They were making me hysterical. My mom wasn't dead, what were they talking about? She was just sleeping…that's right, she was just tired. But they wouldn't stop, so I was screaming 'Leave me alone! Don't touch me!' Then the captain came up and slapped me…" the tiny girl raised her hand to one of her cheeks, completely unaware of her company from now on, "Ordering me to grow-up…a four year old." The Helmsman shuddered, the next part frightened her to no end, but whenever she started shuffling threw these 'pictures' she couldn't just stop.

"Something in me broke, I guess, there's no other way to explain it. My powers went on overload and there's a blank spot…where I remember nothing, and then suddenly I'm surrounded by the sailors again…only this time their on the ground…mimicking my mom. I had killed them…all of them…The village was broken, shattered, as if a hurricane had blown threw in the moments I had blacked out. I still remember what he said…"

"_Are you alright?"_

"I was too traumatized to answer, so I just stood there and bawled."

"_I saw you…you did this."_

"I looked up at him in shock…did I really do this?"

"_You can come with me; I'll teach you to control your powers."_

"And…that's how I became a 'possession' of the World Government…that's how Lucci got me… I don't remember anything past that…not my mom's face, not my dad, not my village, not even how I got this devil fruit…The Government really does own me if you think about it…they even gave me my name."


	46. Chapter 46

**Author's Note: DunDunDuuuuuuuun….are you guys ready for it?! Haha 'my' arcs startingggggggg (it's still only the intro but we're getting there!) Sorry if I took so long, I technecly wrote this chapter three times…the other two I erased in my madness (I want this 'arc' to be good so I've been going over and over and over everything…) Anyway, hope you all enjoy and reviews are great haha! If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Girl-luvs-manga: Haha thanks! And I know I'm a sucker for making things sad…not a good thing but meh no ones perfect right? ;D Anyway thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoy! **

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan: Ah Lucci just…makes me angry…I guess that's why he's the 'bad' guy in my story haha, and ya I could see the World Government doing something like that though…cuz their power hungry assholes…anywho thank you for reading and reviewing! :D glad you like my story and hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Pokemonjkl: I know…I'm an asshole to make 'someone' go threw this…but… well I guess I don't have an excuse haha thanks for the review! And enjoy the Chapter :D**

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><p>"Ah..." Kuki mewed, stretching her legs and arms out along the couch.<p>

Sighing heavier at every pull, pop, and crack her extremities presented her with. It had been so long since the Helmsman was allowed up to the crow's nest; its cushions seemed to called out for a much needed nap…which she graciously accepted.

"Swish, clank…Swish, clank…" The noises seemed almost comforting in a way…no familiar…that was the word.

Zoro was swinging an extremely large set of weights which were all connected to a sturdy metal pole acting as a sword's hilt; back and forth…back in forth, rhythmically. It had been what? Three days since her break down with Brook? To be honest, the musician took it well, instead of calling her a monster for wiping out an entire town, he just stood there…silent… in disbelief.

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><p>"K…Kuki-San…How horrible." The skeleton shattered, his body almost shaking.<p>

The girl didn't even have to look to understand, he was seeing her in an entirely different light.

"I know… I killed them…all of them…everyone in that village…" the Helmsman muttered, dangerously close to falling back into her psychotic lapse.

"No, not that. How could anyone blame you for such a thing? I was speaking about the government; they used you like a lab rat…" Brook explained, muttering further on about the authority of the world.

Kuki looked at him, really looked at him. Out of everything she told the man, he was focusing on the latter? On what the government had done…the testing…the injections?

"I killed people Brook!" the tiny girl shouted, grabbing onto the brightly colored cravat around his neck, "Innocent people!"

The skeleton's expression stayed blank, which caused the Helmsman's anger to boil. She needed to be told she was wrong, she needed to be told that she indeed was a monster. Or else…the girl felt like she was getting away with it.

"But Kuki-San…haven't you ever thought that…since you can't remember destroying everything… that you aren't responsible because you weren't in control?"

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><p>The girl shuddered at the memory and pulled the cushion closer to her face. Why was everything so difficult?<p>

"Clank."

Zoro had dropped the make-shift 'weapon' and slumped onto the bench, taking the towel draped around his shoulders and patting down the sweat beads covering his face. "Exactly how heavy are those?" Kuki asked, still sprawled out along the couch outlining the room. The First Mate started ruffling his short hair with his hand towel before looking up to the girl.

He shrugged his shoulders and went back to drying himself, "Heavy enough."

With another heavy sigh, the Helmsman stretched out her legs, placing them over his lap. He stopped, slipped the towel off and gazed over to the girl, who was otherwise oblivious, enjoying the calmness. Zoro gently leaned back, laying a hand on one of her legs. It was silent, utterly silent, but it was the actions that spoke loudly. Kuki wanted to stay like this forever, forget about all of the harsh, confusing things that came along with humanity and stay locked up away in _their_ crow's nest…forever hiding from the world. But…what would be accomplished with that? Zoro had a dream…he had a focus…the only reason Kuki had basically no problem with cutting off was because she, herself, didn't have a dream. She didn't want to be the greatest swordsman in the world, she didn't want to become the Pirate King, she didn't want to make a map of the world…she didn't have anything.

"All hands to deck!" Nami's voice brought the pair back to reality, "Zoro, Sanji the sails! Kuki the Helm! Franky get ready to Coup de Burst!"

The two 'relaxing' crewmates shot up, scrambling to look out the windows positioned above the back of the bench. It was an unusually calm day for sailing on the Grand Line, the sun steadily beating down from mid-day position, only a slight breeze making the sails bubble only to deflate seconds later, and the sea was so still that it seemed more like a liquefied mirror instead of the water that made up the most dreaded ocean. The scene was tranquil if anything…so why did the navigator look as if she had seen a ghost.

"Don't just look at me! Hurry!" Nami shouted again, glaring down the pair of heads that 'popped' up in a window up in the crow's nest.

"What are you going on about, woman?! It's a perfect day!" Zoro yelled back, craning his neck.

Kuki couldn't help but snicker a bit…he sure didn't like getting yelled at.

The navigator's face changed, true fear, "Over there! Hurry it's coming!" her arm pointing to the starboard side of the ship.

Sure enough, there, in the distance, the sky was a deep, threatening black, but it was so far away, and with this slow breeze it would take awhile for it to reach the Sunny-Go let alone the windward position just happened to be coming from the stern. So to be honest, the black sky to the right held no threat…but when Kuki thought about it this was the _Grand Line_ and Nami was never wrong about these types of things. Just as the Helmsman was about to place her hand onto Zoro's arm to inform him that maybe they should listen to their navigator a large gust of wind hit the Sunny, making the ship sway heavily to the left. The First Mate snatched at Kuki's shirt just as she was about to fall back.

"Shit." He barley had time to get the one word out before another gust slammed against the side of the ship. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>"Kuki!" Nami yelped, almost tripping over herself as the boat dipped and swayed.<p>

The tiny girl's grip started slipping under the pressure, the steering wheel was not only soaked but the Helmsman was using her entire strength to even turn it a few degrees in the direction she needed it to go.

"I'm trying!" Kuki screamed back, flinging her head to the side as a make-shift way to get her drenched hair out of her line of vision.

By the time Zoro and herself had scampered their way down to the grassy deck the looming black clouds were already directly above the ship, soon after a downpour of freezing rain followed.

"Crash!"

The thunder caused Ussop and Chopper to shriek, both of which were clinging to the mast as if their life's depended on it.

"The sails are done!" Zoro hollered down, his voice distorted by the wind's own yelling.

"Finally…" Nami sighed under her breath, placing a hand on the Helmsman standing beside her, "Get ready."

She warned. Kuki bit her lip and mentally prepared herself for the gut-reaching soar threw the sky…oh how she hated the Coup de Burst. The Cook and First Mate both leapt down from high up in the mast, landing with loud thuds.

"We wouldn't be in this position if Marimo-head had listened to my sweet Nami-Swan earlier." Sanji mumbled casually, trying with no avail to light his smoke in the rain.

Zoro turned nonchalant, facing the cook, "Says the one who was last to finish his side of the sails."

"You want to fight about it!?"

"Sure Ero-Cook!"

Kuki wiped her head around, "Excuse me but I'm currently trying to make sure we don't die so can you please shut your mouths!?"

The two men both looked over to catch the Helmsman's glare, falling silent.

"Franky! We're all ready up here!" The Navigator called down to the Shipwright while smacking both men simultaneously across their heads.

"Oh I love it when Nami-Swan is worried!" Sanji swayed, apparently oblivious to the lump on his head along with their current situation.

"Shaddap…" Zoro muttered under his breath, rubbing the side of his head as he walked towards the helm.

"Yahooo!" Luffy laughed, wrapping his arms securely around the Sunny's head, "This sure is a crazy storm!"

The helmsman sighed at her Captain, he seemed to be 'riding' the lion's head like it was bull…he was actually having fun. A heavy squall hit from the starboard side, tossing the small girl to the left. Before anyone had time to react a gust came from port, pitching everyone on board back to the right.

"It's speeding up! What happens when the wind comes from both sides at the same time?!" Ussop asked, still tightly bound around the mast with the young doctor attached to his head.

It was true, the velocity at which the air was moving now seemed to be gradually increasing as time went on, every round stronger then the rest, as if they were coming in waves. But the strange thing was that the Sunny-Go seemed to be smack dab in the middle between two air currents, one coming from the right and the other from the left…and as time went on they were getting closer to 'attacking' the ship at the same time. The grave look covering Nami's face spoke thousands…they needed to get out of here…fast.

"Franky!" The pair wrapped around the mast cried out together, "Hurry!"

"Crash!"

More thunder shortly followed by the bright lightning snaking across the sky. The blustering weather seemed to shove the Helmsman, forcing her grip to give way and almost slammed her against the railing before Zoro caught an arm. Kuki gave a quick smile in thanks before scrambling back over to the steering wheel, which was turning madly in the wrong direction.

"We can't do it guys!"

Apparently the Shipwright had emerged from below the deck while Kuki had been tossed.

"What are you talking about?! We have to get out of here!" Nami explained, just as the gust hurled an un-expecting Robin.

The archaeologist had just exited from the dining room, and was now falling over the railing towards the wet, grassy, main deck.

"Robin-Chwan! I have you my Angel!" the cook caught the falling lady.

"Ah, thank you Cook-San."

"Thump."

Brooke fell from the upper deck in a pile of bones beside the pair, "Yohohoho…how harsh, my heart is broken with the fact that no one came to my rescue…but I don't have a heart! Yohohoho!"

"This is not time! It's getting worse, I can barley keep the wheel stable let alone steer!" Kuki screamed, trying to get everyone back on course.

The crew snapped to reality, just in time for the next gale force of air.

"We can't Coup de Burst! The lightning will do more damage then good! We're not all Luffy here!" the cyborg pointed an accusing thumb towards their Captain who was currently enjoying himself on the figure head.

"Oh no...it's coming! The wind's going to hit from both sides at once!" Nami warned, clutching onto the railings beside her as she watched the black clouds crackle and swarm above them.

The entire crew fell silent, what were they going to do? This storm was horrible…this wind…

"Take the Helm!" Kuki ordered, leaving Zoro no option but to grab the large wheel and keep it sturdy as the girl left it.

She could feel it…the air…the current…the wind. Without thought her body rushed towards the main deck, the Helmsman leaped over the stairs, fumbling to the centre of the ship. It was coming at astonishing speeds…what was up with these gale force winds? At this rate…at this force…from both sides…it would tear up everything…

"Stop!" Kuki roared, holding one arm, palm up, at the starboard side, and the other mimicking the first but facing port.

The Helmsman felt the sudden force of the air hitting…something…but not the boat. It was excruciating, all that pressure almost made her arms buckle, but she felt that if she lowered her hands in anyway then the wind would come crashing in.

"W-what's happening?" Ussop muttered, the space around the boat was calm, eerily calm, but the ocean around them was still erupting in the storming madness, "What are you doing?"

The question was directed to the Helmsman, who had just fallen to her knees but still held her arms up strong.

"I don't exactly know…" the tiny girl panted between words.

"It's as if walls flew up blocking the wind…are you alright Helmsman-San?" Robin induced, wondering just how long the small girl could keep this up.

"I'm…going to change the wind's direction…" Kuki mumbled, her sweat hidden by the rain still stuck to her skin.

"But that's crazy! You can't even…" Nami started to say, only to catch herself.

_You can't even turn your body into air and you want to change air currents?! _

Oh the blonde knew what the Navigator was going to say…what they all were thinking.

"I know what I can and can't do!" Kuki explained, catching Zoro's eyes, "Just have the sails down and ready."

No one moved, they just watched the girl stress under the intense strain of the storm. If they put the sails down and she couldn't hold the wind anymore…Sunny-Go would capsize.

"Come on Ero-cook." The First Mate sighed, still watching Kuki, "Just don't take as long as you did while you were untying them."

That look in his eyes…he believed she could do it…Zoro had faith.

"Shishishi…this'll be fun!" Luffy laughed, jumping up from the figure head, joining the rest of his crew.

Suddenly Kuki noticed the aura around the group change, they too had gained faith in her…everything was riding on the Helmsman to get them out of here…now she just had to prove them right.


	47. Chapter 47

**Author's Note: Gomen! My computer was broken! I had to get a new battery! It got fried or something….something to do with falling asleep with the computer on… Anyway I hope you guys like this chapter! We're getting into my arc! I hope you're all as excited as I am! Reviews are more then helpful! (oh and it's pretty late at night so if there is any mistakes ill probs fix em in the morning...im pretty tired) If your ever bored (or tired of waiting for an update teehee) then go check out my other stories *A Fairy's Roar (Fairytail Lazus story)* and *Am I A Psycho? (Naruto Hidan story) * Enjoy the chapter!**

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Girl-luvs-manga: Haha that was like one of my favourite parts to write, I could just imagine the look he gives her :3 anyway thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm glad you like that part too!**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan: Thanks! I like writing just them simply hanging out, it's fun to write haha And you'll see! This arc is all about Kuki so a lot of things will become clearer….ill give ya a hint though you're kinda close ;) it has something to do with her 'mind'**

**TheKennyquin: Haha thanks! It was about time for her to get a lil badass…or at least I felt like it was needed… heehee ;) thank you for reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>"Everything's ready!" Zoro said, watching the girl.<p>

Even holding the wind away from the boat while the rest of the crew rushed to get the sails down was straining the Helmsman…how was she supposed to turn the currents themselves to push the boat out of this storm?

"_No this isn't the time doubt myself, their all counting on me."_ Kuki told herself.

"I suggest we all hold onto something." Robin smiled, positioning herself in a corner between the wall and the railing.

"W-why?" Ussop stuttered, running back to the mast and engulfing it in a massive hug. "Because if the two currents are mixed together and then faced at our sails the power of both of them will be pushing us…" Nami explained, joining the Archaeologist.

With a squeal Chopper tangled himself around one of the First Mate's legs, deciding that would be the safest place. The sharpshooter glanced at the Swordsman and then to his one free foot…

"Don't you even think about it!" Zoro yelled, causing both the captain and musician to burst out into laughter.

Sanji smack both Luffy and Brook, "Kuki-Tan's trying to concentrate!"

With mumbled apologies the deck fell silent, everyone was waiting.

"_This is it."_ Kuki thought, inhaling deeply, preparing herself.

She felt the wind, felt the rage of the air and how that fury transferred into speed. The more she reached out, deep within the current itself, the more the girl was slipping within her own consciousness. The Helmsman went further…she needed to grasp the main force…the centre… she needed to understand what was causing the air to act like this. Then, it seemed like the key turned, unlocking the gate.

Kuki's eyes flew open, now just as dark as the sea they were currently sailing on, her lips turned up into a smirk, "Hold on kids…gunna be a ruff ride."

Before the crew could answer, the small girl, who's arms were still stretched out to the left and right, brought them in front of her body. Clasping both hands together. The ocean around them shifted drastically, from an all out war to an organised march of waves.

Her grin widened to an insane smile, "Ready?"

Without waiting for a reply, 'Kuki' unclenched her hands. Suddenly, Sunny jumped forwards, hurtling the Helmsman back, sending her sliding along the deck until the wall to the Aquarium room brought her to a stop. The ship was skipping along the surface of the water, at such incredible speeds that a boat made out of any other substance would not be able to take the punishment.

"Phew…didn't expect that much punch." The blond girl laughed, wiping the sweat off of her forehead.

"Kuki! We're heading towards something!" Nami yelled, to the left of the girl.

Everyone was sprawled out on the deck, no one was standing…no one could against the force of motion.

"Oh, you're talking to me? Haha, not used to being in control yet!" the Helmsman explained, looking around the mast to see that they were, in fact, speeding towards something.

It looked like some sort of greyish wall, stretching from the ocean up to the storming sky.

"It appears to be mist…_other_ Helmsman-San…" Robin explained, eyeing her blonde Nakama.

"Tch…" Kuki grunted, her smirk finding its way back to her face, "Mist ain't gunna hurt, and do you know how hard it would be to turn this air current again?"

The girl brushed off the older woman's observation, none of the other crew seemed to notice the comment either, all too busy hanging on for dear life.

"Are we going back to the Florian Triangle?" Chopper whimpered, strangling Zoro's leg.

"No…this mist is different…not as dark and thicker." Nami muttered trying to keep her balance while scrutinising the 'wall' they were heading towards.

"Here we go!" Luffy cheered as the Sunny raced closer to the puffy, white fog.

Everyone prepared themselves for the 'hit', holding onto things tighter, trying to get a good footing, and, for some, holding their breaths.

"Poof"

The ship hit the haze, it being so thick that Sunny lost most, if not all, of its past speed. Travelling threw the clouds for no more then a few seconds and exploding on the other side, bits of the fog stuck to random places on the Sunny.

"Ouch…" Kuki mumbled, shielding her, now bright blue, eyes from the bright blast of sunlight.

The shock of the sudden sunny weather and cloud wall seemed to of forced the 'other' girl away, throwing her back to the cage, and brought the 'original' back to consciousness. Everyone slowly started looking around, their eyes adjusting to the light. Just moments ago they were in a horrible black abyss…and now? A beautiful calm day?

"That was awesome!" Luffy cheered, smiling at his Helmsman with small twinkling stars in his eyes.

"We're alive!" Ussop and Chopper cried, holding each other in a hug while they sobbed.

Zoro caught Kuki's line of sight, giving her a small, half smile.

"Thank you/That was great/Super/Kuki-Tan you're awesome/Hm"

Everyone started over flowing the small blonde with their praise, stealing her attention away from the swordsman as she blushed.

"It was nothing, really." She muttered, trying to hide her slight pant.

"Are we in the eye of the storm?" Sanji asked, holding his hand over his eyes as the cook tried looking up to the cloudless sky.

Everyone but Kuki got in on the conversation; the Helmsman was too preoccupied trying to figure out the problems in her head before even countering the problems 'outside'. Of course…the girl knew it worked, her plan, she somehow managed to turn not just one but TWO air currents. She should be celebrating! Cheering! But something was dwelling in her mind…the fact that Kuki couldn't remember anything in between searching the 'streams' of winds to bursting threw a wall of fog. Everything else was blank, nothing, not even a hint of anything…black. Where did this fog come from? What happened to the wind? The Helmsman closed her eyes, going beyond the 'wall', searching for those 'dark' currents. That air was nothing like she had ever felt before, so full of hate…of disgust… of sadness…the girl had never felt that much feeling in the wind itself. Apparently, when Kuki had 'come to' the air streams went back to their original chaotic flow. She never truly 'changed' them, the blonde only 'grabbed' onto the two currents half way and manipulated the ends, that were going to crush them, to propel them out of the way.

"Helmsman-San…" Robin intervened, gazing at the small girl with that same un-readable face, "Who was that before?"

Kuki inhaled sharply and then looked around; everyone else was too busy celebrating their 'lives' to notice them.

"W-what do you mean?" the blonde stuttered, searching the blank in her mind for some help.

While Kuki was…out…was 'she' in control? The very thought scared the Helmsman to no end…having someone else in control of her body…

"The person controlling the air currents…that wasn't you Helmsman-San." The Archaeologist deduced, her icy eyes never leaving Kuki's.

The tiny girl tried swallowing, but her throat ran dry. Robin knew…she knew…how was she supposed to hide it when the black haired woman knew!? They were going to think she was crazy! That she had some sort of multiple personality disorder or something! Who had another 'person' living in a cell in their mind?!

"Land!"

The scream from their Nakama ended their conversation, to Kuki's delight. The Helmsman gave Robin a quick, helpless smile before running off to the front of the Sunny, to join everyone else.

* * *

><p>"I…I don't know. Can we really just go to the harbour; we're pirates after all…" Kuki mumbled being one of the only crewmates who thought stopping at this island was a bad idea.<p>

It wasn't the place that made her feel that way, no. It was a rather beautiful destination, with sandy beaches surrounding the perimeter, a town of sorts split down the middle by a wide path leading up to an extremely large castle placed in the centre of the island. The harbour, which was quite small for a town so big, was placed at the beginning of this cobble stone path. Surrounding the village was hundreds of tall, swaying palm trees, bringing color to the brick houses. Something about this place just made her stomach turn…

"I want to go eat!" Luffy demanded, sitting on the head of the ship trying to reach land with his hand, as if that would make him get there quicker.

"We'll be fine." Nami reassured, "The fog wall seems to encircle the entire island, so the marines won't be here quickly if anything."

Kuki nodded, biting her lower lip as she gazed at the enclosing island. Why was she having such a problem with this place?

"What's wrong?"

The Helmsman jumped, turning and bumping into the chest of the First Mate.

"Ah…" the tiny girl mumbled, blushing a bit as she looked up to see the swordsman's eyebrow arch in questioning, "Nothing, just a bit tired."

Zoro tilted his head and then pulled the girl down beside him as he sat against the railing of the ship, "Then nap. We're not going to get there for a while…"

The girl was in shock to say the least, sure the First Mate was nice to her in front of everyone, but he never showed this much…'care' in front of the rest of the crew let alone when they were alone. She held her breath as she was 'forced' to sit quite closed to the teen, "W-what…"

Zoro lifted his arm that Kuki was leaning against and let her head fall against chest as he dropped the arm around her small shoulders.

"I'm trying to nap." He muttered, now acting more like the First Mate the Helmsman knew as he blew off her unfinished question.

Kuki sighed and finally found a comfy spot under the swordsman's arm. To be honest? The girl was drained, so her past explanation wasn't a complete lie. Even temporarily moving those currents had taken a lot out of her, so a nap felt like a more then great idea.

* * *

><p>Zoro smirked as he felt Kuki's breathing slow down to a steady inhale and exhale. What was he doing? Hell, he didn't even understand, but watching her act all anxious was worrying him. Why was she so upset about this island? Why wouldn't she tell him the reason? Unconsciously, the swordsman's hand started slightly twirling the Helmsman's hair that was hanging down by her shoulder.<p>

"Marimo-head! What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Sanji screamed.

Zoro raised his head slowly to see every single crewmate staring at the pair resting…especially the, literally, on fire cook who looked like something that had recently crawled out of hell. The First Mate froze, shifting his hand out of view. Just as the usual blush crossed the teen's face, as pretty much everyone with a clue had expected, the swordsman seemed to get an idea and changed his facial expression…to one of confidence.

"What?" Zoro asked, sneering at the smoker.

That was it, Sanji snapped at the, proclaimed lecher, 'all over' his Kuki-Tan.

The cook's flame sprouted up, emitting such a heat that the crew all stepped back a couple of feet, "You have no right to touch a lady marimo-head!"

"What would you know Ero-cook!"

"Brainless muscle-head!"

"Skirt chaser!"

By this point Zoro had stood up, pressing his forehead against Sanji…seemingly not noticing that when he did stand the girl sleeping at his side fell down, with having her 'stabilizer' gone, and was now awake and grumpily rubbing the side of her face that made contact with the wooden deck.

"Kuki…" Nami gasped, looking at the girl with wide eyes and an open mouth.

Everyone took their attention away from the fighting duo, even the pair in argument, and looked at the Helmsman.

Kuki watched as everyone's faces soon matched the navigator's. Fear struck in and she stopped rubbing her face, leaving her hand paused on her cheek, "What…?"

"Your fingers! They're…they're still purple!"


	48. Chapter 48

**Author's Note: Hey there! I know…it's been awhile…Ok maybe a long while but I basically wrote out all my ideas, going threw every bit of detail, timelines, names, descriptions, a map of the island, ect. I want it to be a million times better then my first try haha xD Oh and anyone want to guess what's up with this island? Haha I bet you won't figure it out! Well I hope you enjoy this Chapter! I'm really nervous about writing my own arc ****I hope it turns out ok. As always Reviews are welcomed/loved/needed haha Thanks and Enjoy! **

******Past Chapter's Reviews******

**Girl-luvs-manga: Haha I put her threw a lot don't I? hehe…he thanks for reviewing! :D**

**Shiningheart of ThunderClan: Haha sharp eye! You'll understand after you read this chapter as of what became of the bandages haha. And I know right! So adorable in a strange, grumpy, awkward kind of way.**

**whysoserious00: haha well thank you :3 I'm glad you enjoy it! Makes me feel all warm and giggly when people say they like my story. **

* * *

><p>"It's been like that since she used her attack against Moria..." Chopper tried explaining; catching the worried looks he added a quick, "But I'm researching this poison and I might be able to take all of it out!"<p>

Kuki slowly peeled her hand away from her face, staring at the uncovered fingers stained a sickly purple. Somewhere along the line, in between the rain and her grip at the helm, the wrappings had fallen off…now everyone could see.

"That Lucci guy had a cure right? So, that means that there must be a way to make one, it'll just take time to figure it out." The young doctor continued.

"Oh ya…when we were fighting the cat guy! I thought you killed him but he just stood up a minute after all fine." Luffy proclaimed, remembering the fight where Kuki and him had worked together, before she was an official member of the crew.

The Helmsman smiled at the memory, she was so awkward around people back then especially around the loud and unusual Luffy…she had changed so much since then.

"I think an antidote would be a good idea anyway." Robin added, smiling as per usual, "Everyone should be issued one. Just so we don't end up dying in some sort of accident."

Ussop shuddered and sharply turned his head towards the Archaeologist, "Stop with your creepy thoughts! Keep em' in your head!"

The group slowly started dissipating, each crewmate going in their own direction until Kuki was left, sitting on the deck…smiling at her Nakama.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Zoro asked, watching the blonde girl grin at nothing in particular.

Kuki shook off her expression and looked up to the Swordsman.

"Because I was sick of you guys treating me like I was made of glass." She joked, sticking her tongue out at the teen.

"What are you talking about?" he mumbled, "Sanji might've but I didn't."

"Says the guy who thought me watering the flowers was 'too much work'."

Her accusation was met with well earned silence.

"That's what I thought."

* * *

><p>"I can't just nap here?" Kuki grumbled, jealously scanning the sleeping figure resting against the mast.<p>

His face squished against the sheathed sword, a small bit of drool pooling at the side of his mouth.

"What's wrong with you?" Nami pouted, "Since when have you not liked shopping."

The Helmsman moved her head to the side to stare at the Navigator instead.

"I don't know if you've noticed, but you have a knack for destroying your clothing." She continued, eyeing Kuki's last bit of 'wearable' summer clothing, which consisted of a simple tank-top and a pair of shorts and sunglasses to top it all off.

The tiny blonde sighed, "I know it's just this island just feels…different."

Robin strolled up beside the pair, "It seems like they only have off shore fishing boats."

The older woman was right, only small, rowing ships littered the shore, nothing bigger.

"My angels! I'll finish my shopping quickly so I can meet you three up later to help you carry your things!" Sanji sung, winding his way down the stairs to the group of females.

"What I'm worrying about is the Log Pose…" Nami muttered, ignoring the cook.

Kuki raised an eyebrow at the navigator, "Oh you mean if it switches from Fishman Island to this place?"

The orange haired girl swirled her finger around the 'globe' attached to her wrist, "No…exactly the opposite. The pose isn't even recognising this island at all, as if it doesn't exist."

The Helmsman took a better look at the floating needle, Nami was right…it wasn't even twitching in the slightest, it was still pointing strong towards their original goal.

"And didn't that old train granny say that there were no islands in between Water 7 and Fishman Island?" Ussop asked, popping into the conversation.

The other crewmates all agreed with the Sharpshooter, deep in thought.

"Well she was a drunk so you never know." Sanji added, flicking the butt of his cigarette overboard.

"Are we going soon?" Luffy whined, gazing longingly down the cobble stone road in front of the Sunny.

The path was long and had stores of all sorts on either sides. Citizens crowed the entire road…and the people closest to the Sunny-Go were all whispering to each other, turning and 'walking' the other way…quite fast.

* * *

><p>"How about this?" Nami mewed, throwing more clothing at the helpless blonde.<p>

The Navigator always had fun 'helping' the Helmsman pick out clothes, along with finding some things for herself and Robin. Not that Kuki minded in anyway, she didn't really know much about fashion and Nami seemed to know everything about it…but her arms were currently straining under the mountain of fabrics on top of them.

"Robin…have you noticed how everyone seems to be avoiding us…?" the tiny girl whispered, scanning the now empty shop.

Her eyes landing on the clerk, who personally looked frightened to death and maybe a little pale for a resident on a tropical island. But the more the Helmsman thought about it, every citizen they had seen so far had the same pale skin color…as well as those grey eyes...maybe it was just a genetic thing?

"It seems like their not used to visitors." The older woman hummed, running her hand along the hanging fabrics.

Nami had found her way to the checkout, bringing the two other girls close behind her. Kuki dropped the pile of fabrics onto the counter, catching the clerk flinch at her action.

"How much for all of this?" Nami asked slowly, placing her hands on each hip, preparing herself for a heavy round of 'bargaining'.

"J-just take it." The clerk stuttered, breaking out into a cold sweat.

Robin glanced at the extremely large pile of clothing, "Are you sure?"

The navigator quickly patted robin on the shoulder, "Well if he wants to be so kind why don't we take up his offer?"

Kuki chuckled at her crewmate, who was almost in tears at the thought of how much berris she was going to save.

"Oh, and do you happen to know why the Log Pose isn't registering this island?" Nami asked, raising her hand to show the object to only have the man jump back against the back wall and give a little shriek.

He raised his hands to shield himself, "P-please just take the s-stuff and leave!"

Before the clerk could take back his offer, the navigator stuffed all the clothes into a couple bags and shoved the other two towards the exit.

"Well that was strange…" Robin smiled, watching the man scramble toward the Den Den Mushi in the corner before they left.

* * *

><p>"Is it just me or does everyone have the same skin tone as Kuki?" Nami laughed, looking at the surrounding citizens.<p>

All of which, were keeping their distance or walking in the other direction.

"Hey." The tiny blonde whined, sticking out her lower lip as she shifted the bags she was carrying.

It was true though, no mater how much tanning the Helmsman tried taking part in, her skin never darkened from its porcelain color.

"And they all have grey eyes." Robin added with an amused face, watching a couple run away from them.

"He…seemed scared of us…" Kuki mumbled, looking back at the store disappearing behind them as she followed behind the pair, "ouch."

The Helmsman rubbed at her nose and looked up to figure out why Nami and Robin had stopped.

"Ok now, I wouldn't try anything if I was you." A girl suggested, twirling a lollipop stick in between her fingers.

The three crewmates were currently surrounded by a ring of what appeared to be some sort of 'royal' guard. Each soldier covered in polished silver armour, dark blue cloth and handling long, sharp looking spears, all except the one female. The girl was around the same height as Robin, wearing a pair of pin-stripe, tan and dark brown leather pants and a white T-shirt with a large oil stain near the bottom hem. Her dark brown dreadlocks were pulled up into a high ponytail with two long bangs on either side of her face, separated from the twisted strands of hair by a black bandana. The girl's left arm had some sort of 'exoskeleton' added on top of the skin. Starting out with a large metal circle on the shoulder, connected to a 'pole' of sorts running down to her elbow, which was another smaller disk acting as a joint. The metal elbow was joined to another silvery stake, this time reaching her wrist. The hand was a mixture of circles linked with 'finger' like rods representing a metal hand overtop her own.

"We already have all your friends in custody." She pulled the red sphere of candy out of her mouth, "Just come quietly and we won't have to use force."

The Strawhats shifted uncomfortably, not liking the look of the pointy weapons the guards were all holding.

"I guess we really weren't welcome." Robin chuckled, all nonchalant about the current situation.

Nami dropped the bags she was holding and scrambled to her Clima-Tact, "How did they capture Luffy, Chopper and Sanji?!" her voice was hushed and frantic.

The Navigator's actions did nothing but provoke the guards to lower and point their spears at the group.

"For all we know they might have everyone on the Sunny as well…Zoro, Ussop, Franky, Brooke…" the older woman added, listing off names and making the 'scenario' in the Navigator's mind worse.

"More importantly, why? What did we do to get arrested?" Kuki asked, trying to look over her crewmate's shoulders as they were still in front of her.

"It seems like you've already stolen from our citizens…" the woman replied, eyeing the bags on the ground as well as in the tiny blonde's arms.

"We didn't steal! He told us to take it…" Nami tried explaining, only to understand how it sounded after the words were spoken.

"But you didn't know we had 'stolen' anything before you came after us. So you're not trying to arrest us for that." Robin added, smiling darkly at the men pointing the weapons at her, watching them flinch away as if she was the plague.

The female smirked, placing the candy back into her mouth, "Tochihana does not allow any outsiders. The fact that you got threw the Queen's air currents is crazy enough." the woman explained, going back to twirling the sucker.

"You're arresting us for just being here?" Kuki asked, barely getting the words out as she was grabbed from behind.

Apparently a guard had taken it upon himself to capture one of the 'outsiders' by his lonesome, truth be told he tried while 'it' wasn't looking as well as going for the smallest…less 'frightening' one. The Helmsman let out a little squeak of surprise as the guard pulled one arm back and up behind her. Kuki bent forward to ease the pain; the farther the soldier brought up her arm the more it seemed to hurt. The tiny blonde accidently bumped against Robin, who had crossed her arms, preparing to defend against the oncoming attackers. Evidently, the rest of the guards seemed to acquire some sort of courage from their friend's action, now advancing towards the three. Kuki's sunglasses fell to the cobblestone beneath her, cracking in two.

"_Great…I guess I do have a talent for getting my stuff broken…"_ she thought as her leg stomped down onto the man's foot, making him release his grip.

Kuki went to stand back up, glaring at the woman with the lollipop as she moved to turn back around, not wanting another surprise 'attack'.

"Get to the ground!" the female called out, suddenly falling to her knees, extending her arms and placing them on the ground in front of her.

"What?" Nami muttered, lowering her Clima-Tact as she watched the guards gasp out in surprise and quickly scramble to bow down as well.

"Well this is…interesting." Robin raised an eyebrow as the soldiers all fell to the ground in a sign of respect, "Weren't they just trying to arrest us?"

Kuki tilted her head to the side as she watched the girl raise her head and glance up towards her,

**"It's the Princess! The Princess has returned!"**


	49. Chapter 49

**Author's Notes: Oh my, hello everyone! Was unpacking and I found my laptop! With a quick blow to get all the dust off I found some free time and a comfy bed to sit on and went at it. This chapter is probably a little rusty, all things considering, but oh well might as well try again. I really loved this story and I refuse to let it die. For all those following my story I'm so sorry, I've been busy with so much stuff, but that's really no excuse, hopefully this helps a little bit.**

******Past Chapter Reviews******

**Shiningheart of thunderclan: I know! Really confusing, this chapter will help you haha don't worry! I got it covered, I'll make it make more sense, trust me a little bit? :) And that is true, a lot of lonely girls deserve as much. Sorry for the extremely long wait and as always thanks for reviewing**

**Girl-luvs-manga: Haha don't worry I got a lot of piratie, action goodness in this arch, I want to be proud of it :) thanks for the review**

**Onyxjdshadow: Thank you, that really means a lot to me. I know what you mean, between school, work, rugby, friends I have little time for anything but if i find a really good story that catches my interest i make time for it. I'm really happy you find my story up to that calibre. Thank you for reviewing as well!**

**Georgedeeks:haha thank you! And I'm trying sorry it took so god damn long T_T**

**Hamster1st: Aww thank you! I really tried to stick with the One Piece nature and have humour in it, I'm glad you like it :3**

**14musician: Oh wow, thanks. I never thought I'd have readers that would pride themselves in calling them my biggest fans, that really means a lot, to be honest your review kind of lit the spark for me to continue writing. Thanks so much :)**

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><p>"I don't feel comfortable talking with all these extra ears around." Sanji mumbled under his breath, tapping his foot in irritation as he eyed the guards positioned along the outside of the large room.<p>

The area was huge, with a big, semi circle balcony to the back accompanied by twin, curved staircases to the left and right. Tall columns surrounded the Perimeter of the rectangular place, leaving all the extra space empty excluding the deep brown, wooden table. It held five, high back, chairs on either side and two chairs at the top of the table, leaving the end facing the entrance to the room free.

"Wouldn't be a problem if you didn't have such a big mouth." Zoro grumbled back, his fingers were still twitching from his earlier embarrassment.

The two boys looked at each other, the cook's mouth opening as if to retort.

Nami slid an arm around both of the men's shoulders, the air around her threatening and heavy, "Don't even think about it."

Both men stopped immediately.

"It seems like we're in a castle." Robin added, her arms crossed as she took in the decor.

Everything from the ceiling to the floor was made out of a rich cobblestone, other then the pale marble columns, and the only colours accompanying the grey was the dark, navy blue and gold embroidered fabric along the steps of the stairs and surrounding the floor of the table.

"We need to focus on more important matters!" Ussop squealed while trying to keep his voice hushed, "What is going on? First we're in a cell now where treated as guests? Makes no sense!"

"What makes no sense is how you were all caught?!" Nami raged, seemingly not caring anymore if the guards heard her, "This is a tiny island, how could they take all of you?!"

The boys all had a look of shame pass over their faces, all but Luffy, who proudly stuck his bottom lip out.

"Wasn't my fault, they snuck up and put that stupid sea-stone stuff on me before anything even started!"

Sanji gave the captain a quick slap to the head, "You were the one flaunting your devil fruit by grabbing food off of other people's plates! Of course they were going to do that!" the cook yelled, taking a cigarette and lighting it, "Baka."

"Zoro-San just got up and started walking with them!" Brooke cried out, trying to defend himself as well, "We had to follow, we thought there was a reason for swordsman-san's actions!"

"Sanji started going with them too! With that and Luffy being towed behind it was easy for them to get me." Chopper whimpered.

All eyes fell upon the three powerhouses, mostly the swordsman and cook, but blame still lingered over their captain as well.

"You guys just went with them?" Robin asked, an amused half smile sticking too her lips.

"For some reason I felt like we were going to a banquet of sorts..." Zoro cursed the older woman and that all-knowing face of hers, "I wasn't walking into a cell I was walking into a hall, and then all of a sudden the jail door closed and I snapped back into reality."

Sanji exhaled and looked up to the ceiling, "Same here, I was off to see beautiful ladies at a banquet" the cooks gaze trailed off, drool pouring at the side of his mouth, "And then I somehow ended up in a jail cell with these bakas." he finished explaining to the girls as he pointed at all the men behind him.

"Hey!"

"That makes no sense..." Kuki pondered, tapping her index finger to her face, "Do you think that maybe someone has a devil fruit of some kind? It couldn't have been a hallucinogen if they both saw the same things."

The other girls nodded at the Helmsman's words, it was true, but weird... Small towns, especially small islands, didn't really have access to stuff like devil fruits, but then again this was the Grand Line.

"I'm more curious as to why we're all of a sudden let out and welcomed into the main room." Franky looked over to the last group to arrive, "What did you guys do?"

The look the robot was giving the group of females was instantly recognized. Kuki immediately blushed as a look of complete shock crossed her face.

"Nothing!" she testified, her face red.

"Apparently Kuki-Hime here is the princess of this place." Robin explained coolly, still smiling despite their situation, like always.

There was sudden silence among the crew, all of them processing the new information. None of them really knew anything from their Helmsman's past, all except Brooke, so it could very well be true.

"Why didn't you tell me you were a princess, Kuki-Hime?" Sanji sang, dropping to his knees as he took one of the blonde's hands, "Your beauty finally makes sense as a delicate flower of royalty."

Before the girl could even get a word out Zoro had already smacked the love-cook away, grunting in his direction before raising an eyebrow at the Helmsman.

"A princess...really?" He could help but picture the girl in one of those puffy fairytale dresses...too be honest he didn't like it too much.

"Woooooooooow!" Luffy yelled, pushing the Swordsman's face out of the way, "That's so cool!"

"Guys, I'm not a princess!" Kuki shouted above the noise, trying to get all of their attention.

"That Lady seemed to know you instantly." Nami added, crossing her arms as she raised an eyebrow.

The way that the crew was watching her...did they really doubt her?

"You have the same skin tone as the people here as well." the older woman chirped, giving the Blonde a close eyed smile.

The Helmsman felt the need to back up her statement, but really why should she? Her Nakama should believe her, why was it so hard to?

"I feel as if you should explain the story to the rest of the crew..." Brooke offered, "The one you told me before."

The tiny girl locked eyes with eye sockets, sighing in defeat mere seconds later. Zoro really didn't feel comfortable with this, the newest crew member and Kuki having a secret that he didn't know about? The thought didn't sit well in his stomach.

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><p>The girl looked around the circle the crew had made, it was about time she had told them about her past, or well as much as she knew about it. Everyone was thinking, or maybe even coming to understand why she was the way she was.<p>

"I'm even more happy that we kicked the Lucci guy's ass together." Luffy stated, breaking the silence.

The crew broke out in smiles, the awkward tension finally broken.

"Maybe since you can't remember anything before the shipwreck you could actually be from this island." Nami muttered, deep in thought.

Chopper and Ussop nodded along in agreement, both staring at the Helmsman. It amazed her at how well they took her explanation, just like with Brooke, no one blamed her for anything...she just didn't know if she liked that or not. Zoro lightly bumped his arm against hers, breaking Kuki out of her thought process and bringing her back into the conversation.

"No, that...woman with me in the memory. She's my mom, I know for sure that she is, and that girl from earlier said something about the Queen's barrier, meaning that there is no way my mom could be alive here ruling as 'Queen'..." Kuki stated, catching the looks from some of her Nakama that just didn't understand, "A.K.A I can't be the princess since my mother's dead, and has been for a long time." she tried again, simpler this time.

Luffy's, Ussop's, Franky's, and Chopper's head all nodded simultaneously, a certain glaze over their eyes as if they had no idea in what she was saying. Oh well, she tried.

"That makes sense..." Robin mumbled to herself, trying to find the lost pieces of the puzzle, "It might be best to go along with it for now though, or else we might find ourselves back in the jail cells instead of this fancy dinning hall."

Kuki pursed her lips at the thought, she didn't really feel good about tricking people but if it kept her friends out of trouble then maybe she could go along with it for a little while.

"And maybe while we're looking for an answer we can load up on some royal treasure before we leave!" Nami sang, her eyes the shapes of berris as she clutched her hands together in front of her chest.

"Nami I can't do that..." the Helmsman whispered, eyeing the all too noticeable guard by every column.

"Hey, they attacked us first, I feel like we're entitled to some treasure before we leave." the navigator started explaining, trying to get Kuki to see it from her point of view.

"Treasure, treasure, treasure!" the idiot trio started ranting, slowly pulling the small girl over to their side.

"Ok...maybe, first I want to know whats going on here and why there isn't any outsiders allowed on this island..." the Helmsman drifted off.

It didn't make any sense, islands like this usually thrive off of tourism, so why would this one ban it all together? Nami, Luffy, Ussop, and Chopper all high fived then went on to talk about all the money they were going to get.

"I understand where your coming from..." Robin started, staring down each and every guard, "It really doesn't make sense...this whole island is confusing. First the converging air currents, then the cloud wall, then the small boats, lastly the citizens act as if they haven't seen an outsider in a long time and are simply terrified by us." the older woman finished, numbering the problems out on her fingers.

Sanji nodded, flicking his butt and dropping it on the cobblestone ground, he was nice enough to miss the expensive looking carpet they were currently standing on by the table, even though considering all they had been put threw.

"I don't like this princess business, what if you get caught?" Zoro asked, finally relaxing his arm along the hilts of his swords.

"Kuki-Hime can handle it, she looks like the perfect, coy princess." the cook boasted, bowing towards the Helmsman, "I can start giving you dancing lessons now if you wish?" he offered, holding out his hand in an awaiting offer.

Kuki blushed and was about to say there was no need until the Swordsman cut in.

"Never mind, she'll be fine."


	50. Chapter 50

**Author's Note: Hello there :) haha needed internet to post this T_T but here it is! I hope you guys like it, I'm going to make this Arc good and make sure I do, the stress is a little bad because I really want it to be good unlike my other try... ughh but I'm trying haha. Tell me how it is? Review? Is that too much to ask? OMG and it's chapter 50 guys! isn't that crazy! this story has gone threw 50 chapters! I dunno if it's just me but that seems crazy! Anyway, enjoy!**

**Previous Chapter Reviews:**

**Girl-luvs-manga: haha yeah i think she might, she's so tiny and fragile looking haha glad you think it too and you think? Haha just wait till you read this chapter and see how he is hahaha xD im such a bad person to him aren't I?**

**14musician: Thank you sooooo much haha your sooo sweet haha. My writing skills have gotten better (by A LOT) since I began anyway but there is still a lot of room to grow. Thank you so much hope you enjoy it ^^**

**pokemonjkl: haha it gets better in this one don't you worry haha thank you so much I hope you enjoy this chapter just as much.**

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><p>"Sorry to keep you waiting."<p>

A voice from up on the balcony called out, gaining all of the crews attention. It was the woman from before, the tall brunette with that metal exoskeleton on her left arm.

"That is no problem at all my angel!" Sanji called out, already snapping out of his previous anger as he saw another female.

The girl's eyebrow quirked a tad as she started walking down the staircase to the right.

"Angel?" she asked, walking over to the group and pulling out the chair at the head of the table as she sat.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked, breaking the silence and pocking his head around to get a look at her.

"My name is Abura, Lily. I'm the head inventor on this island...well the only inventor I guess you could say." she laughed, pulling a cigarette pack from her pocket.

"Inventor?" Franky asked, that one word catching his attention.

Lily flicked her lighter, lighting the smoke as she nodded and then finally looked up at the person who spoke. Her cigarette almost fell out of her mouth, seeing Franky for the first time. instead of the usual weird glances that the cyborg always received this lady was staring at him like a kid staring at all the Christmas presents under the tree.

"Oh wow..." she walked over immediately, running her hands over Franky's mechanical arms and even going as far as inspecting his nose.

Everyone stopped and watched at the anomaly that was happening before them. Sanji's mouth hit the floor, a female actually skipped over him and was now paying attention to Franky out of all people! She was going over their shipwright with a fine tooth comb, not caring that she was currently invading someone's personal space, but Franky didn't seem to mind. He had an expression of pride on his face as the other inventor looked at his 'work', someone else who could appreciate it.

"So the power source comes from..." Lily mumbled, taking it all in.

She placed her left arm with the metal attached to it on her hip as the other held the smoke to her mouth, "Here." she answered pointing to his abdomen.

The cyborg look generally impressed, this girl had some knowledge.

"You have everything divided equally so it had to be in the middle and in a big enough area to house an energy source." she explained smugly, pointing out how she could guess.

"Sorry to interrupt," Nami started, finally breaking the weird atmosphere, "But we would like to know what going on."

"Oh..."Lily turned and looked at each crew mate, ending at Kuki, "Of course, sorry about that."

Her laugh made Nami's face turn in annoyance.

"She's not the most serious royalty I've met." Robin chuckled, holding her hand to cover her mouth.

Zoro, Kuki, Brook, Ussop, and Chopper nodded in agreement silently.

"Oh I'm not royalty princess, just the 'royal' inverter." Lily explained as she caught Kuki nodding.

The crew fell silent at the term 'Princess', not knowing what to say everyone looked to the small girl.

"S-sorry...I just..." the helmsman mumbled, this was going to be a lot harder then she thought.

She couldn't just pretend to be the Princess, how was she going to know everything that the real Princess would?

"It's alright, I wouldn't expect you to know since you've been gone for so long." the brunette explained, flicking the butt of her cigarette to the floor just as Sanji had done earlier, only this time one of the guards standing by the columns ran over, kneeled down and picked it up along with the one from earlier.

"Just how long has Ku- the Princess been gone?" Nami asked, slipping up only to catch herself at a moments notice.

"And just how exactly, did our friend here, leave this island?" Robin quickly added, curiously.

Kuki felt...awkward. This girl here actually thought that she was her Princess, and having her only other female crew mates ask questions about 'her' made it feel even more wrong.

"Fourteen years ago, that was when Tochihanna had it's depression." Lily mumbled, thinking back, "I was six at the time so I don't remember all that well...I just remember we didn't have any outsiders to the island after that one day..."

"Lily!" A voice cut off the inventor, "Let's not remind the Princess of that incident on her first day back home, shall we?"

Up on the balcony stood a tall, pale skinned man. He looked to be about twenty-three, twenty-four with jet black hair that was cut short and spiked up in the front in a very clean manner. He wore a dark, blackish blue, double buttoned suit jacket with gold buttons. His pants were the same colour as his jacket and perfectly ironed that the folds were sharp in the front and back. The man carried a sword at his right hip, which clung to his side by being hooked in a dark brown leather belt. A black cape like thing was hooked on his right shoulder and only right shoulder, covering his right side but leaving the other open almost as if to hide the weapon, but you could still tell it was there if you looked hard enough.

"Of course Prince, sorry I wasn't thinking." Lily mumbled not bowing like the rest of the guards in the oversized room had upon his arrival.

So this was the prince, well he did look like the classic fairy tale character. Kuki looked up from his wardrobe straight to his face, he was staring right at her. The same pale icy eyes everyone on this island had were looking straight threw her. He was going to find out...he was going to know that she wasn't the Princess. Obviously because he would know his own sister, right? If they called him the Prince and her the Princess didn't that mean they were siblings?

Sanji and Zoro both jumped up, one reaching for his sword the other lifting his foot a tad bit off the ground. Each wore the same expression though, as they glared at the new comer.

"It's you!"

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><p>"Yes, as I said before I am quite sorry for what happened earlier." the Prince said again, eyeing Luffy as he tried to get over the Captain's eating habits.<p>

Apparently the Prince was the man who had...hypnotized Sanji and Zoro into thinking what they had when they were captured. So this man had a Devil Fruit? Kuki looked at him from the corner of her eye, for some reason the thought of a story book Prince having anything other then his 'trusty steed' and sword was a little...hard to believe, but how else did he do that to the Swordsman and Cook? With an apology and a little of 'enforcement' from the Navigator both men forgave the Prince and dropped all of their ill-will. After that, the entire crew was invited to stay and have a banquet for the return of the Princess. He actually believed she was the Princess too! It blew Kuki's mind, as well as made her feel worse for tricking everyone but one thought kept coming up in her mind...where was the real one?

"Hm..." Zoro grumbled from his seat, filling his mouth with food so he had an excuse to not speak since Nami was currently staring him down.

The Prince sat at the head of the table, with Kuki to his right at the head as the 'Princess'. Luffy sat at the first chair to the left side, Zoro beside him then Sanji, Franky and lastly Brooke, Kuki thought that the skeleton was put the farthest away because he actually scared the Prince with...well being a skeleton and all but that was only a thought. One the right, Nami was first, then Robin followed by Chopper and Ussop.

"For bringing the Princess back, I have secured a room for each of you within the castle. You can stay as long as you'd like." the Prince explained, cutting his finely cooked chicken breast into perfect little squares.

"Well that sure is nice!" Luffy laughed, talking as the entire chicken breast was in his mouth.

Nami covered her face in embarrassment as the Prince looked entirely shocked at the act. Robin, on the other hand, just covered her mouth politely and chuckled.

"It was..." the man's eyebrows raised a little in surprise, "no problem at all. I understand that the Princess must have made some strong friendships with you and you're crew. So I don't want to make her friends leave right away."

With that explanation Kuki almost choked on her food, having to take a quick sip of water from the expensive looking glass by her plate. The Prince glanced over at her with a worried look, as did everyone else.

"S-sorry," She mumbled, blushing as she looked at everyone, "I'm fine."

The Prince smiled lightly and reached to tuck some of her hair behind her ear and out of her face, only to turn back to his conversation with Luffy. Zoro grunted quite audibly, making Nami glare and Kuki look up at him. The Swordsman was starring daggers at the Prince.

"I'm his 'sister'" Kuki mouthed back silently making sure the man beside her didn't see.

With one last glare Zoro looked back down at his food, with that over the Helmsman's mind started racing. The Prince thought I was staying...how was this going to work. Were they going to take all the gold and just sneak off in the night? It actually made her feel wrong, obviously something happened to this man's real sister and he was so thrilled by the idea of having her back that he was able to fall for the trick that Kuki was his sister.

"You guys are welcome to stay for the wedding." the Prince offered with a charming, perfect smile.

Nami's eyes shined, a royal wedding!? Just imagining how much money was going to be in one place was making her drool.

"Oh, then we brought back your sister just in time for your wedding." Ussop added in between chews, "That's good."

Kuki felt so bad that the food in her mouth felt tasteless and rubbery, how could she go threw with this.

"My sister?" the man of royalty asked, looking at the long nosed man with a quirked, perfectly arched eyebrow.

Kuki looked up and along the table, the Archeologist's eyes widened in surprise.

"Do you have no memory at all?" he asked, looking into the Helmsman's eyes, finding misplaced confusion.

"I...ugh..." the blonde muttered, not understanding a thing that was happening.

"Ohhhh!" Brooke yelped, eye sockets widening.

"...no..." Sanji mumbled under his breath, his one eye wide open.

What was happening?

"You're not my sister..." the Prince tried to explain, " I can understand where you might have thought that idea."

Zoro finally caught on, whipping his head towards the two at the head of the table.

"Your my fiance."


	51. Chapter 51

**Author's Note: Number 51! It came pretty fast hey? Been in the writing mood lately haha, hope you guys like that haha I'm now remembering how it feels to write and get reviews and it just makes me want to write more! We got threw half a hundred chapters guys! That's so crazy! Or well at least for me it is haha. Well, thank you guys for reading and hopefully reviewing haha Enjoy!**

**Previous Chapter Reviews:**

**Shinigami-Kira-1917: haha thanks! Hopefully that was a good wow and not a bad one! Anyway thank you for reading and reviewing!**

**Pokemonjkl: Haha it seemed that last part got the response i wanted! Thank you for reviewing and reading! Here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy this one just as much if not more! **

**Quasimoto: Hahahahahha :3 I know right? I like it, I love Drama (in a story of course cant stand it real life) and turmoil and what not :3 maybe I'm just evil? Oh well, thank you for reading and reviewing! Hope you enjoy!**

**Georgedeeks: Well here you are! A fresh update just for you hahahaha, thank you for reading and reviewing and man, you need cliffhangers, what else would make people come back and read my story? **

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><p>"I can't do this." Kuki cried out, pacing back and forth in the over-sized, over-fancy room.<p>

Nami watching the tiny Helmsman walk back and forth as she sat on the extravagant bed.

"We'll just stay for a day or two, get what we need and go." the navigator reasoned, her eyes slightly glazed over with the thought of the Berris still stuck in her mind.

"But he thinks I'm his fiance!" the blonde said pausing in her walk to look at the other girl, "Something happened to the real Princess and it makes me feel awful to pretend to be her!"

"I don't understand why they think it's you with no questions asked," Robin pondered, looking at the picture hanging up on the wall, "We didn't even suggest the idea, they just automaticly went to that thought."

Nami's eyes unglazed at that and her face went into one of thought as well.

"Yeah, it doesn't make sense. If she did leave fourteen years ago and she was your age then she would've been four...How would they know what she would look like now?" the navigator thought.

"Look at this." the Archeologist pointed to the painting.

It was one of the Royal family, a women dressed in a pale blue gown, a delicate gold crown sat on her head with her long black hair braided to hang over her right shoulder as a little boy, around the age of nine, sat on her left lap. Everything about the picture screamed luxury and wealth.

"That's the Prince." Kuki pointed out, looking at the small boy on the Queens lap.

"Obviously," Nami muttered, "It's one of the Royal family so he would be in it, but there's no 'King'"

The Helmsman looked again, she was right, only the two were in the painting, something must have happened to the Prince's dad back then. Which, all in all, made her feel even worse about what they were doing.

"That's not what I was suggesting," Robin added, raising her long arm to point at the Queen's face, "Everyone on this island has the same grey eyes, so why does she have these bright blue ones?"

The three females fell silent, looking at the beautifully painted face. The lady had bright blue eyes, made even more pronounced by her jet black hair.

"You know what..." Nami started, her finger to her lip in questioning as she looked from the picture to Kuki, "You have the same colour eyes as she does."

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><p>Kuki couldn't sleep, after Nami and Robin had left her room, convincing her to just go to bed and that they would talk more about the situation in the morning first, she had just stood in the middle of the room not knowing what to do. There was a pale, cream coloured wardrobe in the corner of the room, by the door that lead to her private bathroom, which was filled with clothing. Reluctantly, the Helmsman strolled over and opened the closet doors, it was filled with fancy dresses made of expensive looking material. She was looking for something to sleep in, since she didn't want to sleep in her clothes from earlier that day.<p>

"Nope..." she mumbled, closing the doors and then pulling the bottom drawer out to check in there.

Sleeping gowns galore, of all different colours and all different fabrics. The girl didn't know where to start! Out of impulse she grabbed the one on top, a pale blue, almost sheer night gown that fell to her knees with lace straps. The bed was almost too comfy, if that was possible. Kuki felt as if she was being suffocated by the crazy amount of pillows, the thick comforter and the way her body seemed to sink into the mattress itself. Maybe it was because she was in someone else's room, someone else's bed, someone else's clothes... Her mind was racing with the whole Princess charade, but to be honest the thing that was keeping her up most was the picture hanging on the wall directly across from the bed. The Queen's small, kind smile paired with those eyes...it seemed like she was starring at Kuki, right at her. Nami was right, they were the exact same colour as hers, Robin even agreed which lead to awkward silence from all three at the new findings. People had the same coloured eyes all the time, right? It didn't mean anything, but that thought didn't stop from the accusing stare of the painting that kept her up all threw the night. Kuki turned again, not able to find a comfortable way to lay. There was already light coming in from the window telling her that it was morning already.

"Knock knock."

Kuki jumped up in the bed, someone was knocking at her door.

"H-hello?" she called out, her voice shacking from the lack of sleep.

The door opened and in came three woman, all of which were wearing a dark blue, simple dress and a grey apron over top, their hair all up in a neat and tidy bun.

"Good morning Miss," The first greeted, she was around Nami's height and had dark blonde hair along with those grey eyes, "The Prince told us to come get you ready this morning."

The fact that these girls were up and prepared for the day made Kuki kind of self-aware of her appearance.

"Um, get me ready for the day?" she asked slowly, still trying to comprehend the current situation as her hands went up to calm her tangled mess of a mop on top of her head.

"Yes," the second answered, she was older the the other two, with a few wrinkles playing on her features and light grey hair, "Could you go have a shower so we can get started Miss?"

The second lady was watching Kuki very carefully, starring at her in a very different manner, as if she knew something.

"Ugh...yeah, sure...I guess."

* * *

><p>"Ouch!" Kuki breathed in sharply, or well tried to anyway.<p>

"Sorry Miss, but this is part of the dress." the third girl explained, giving her a sympathetic look.

She had dark brown hair and was short just like Kuki, who was currently trying to breath as the other girl pulled at the strings of the corset like thing crushing her ribcage. The Helmsman's chest looked as if it was going to explode out of the top as the girl gave one more final pull before tieing the strings.

"Oh wow..." Kuki muttered, trying to adjust her breathing so she could, in fact, breath right.

The older woman pooled the dress at the bottom of her feet to step into, her face hadn't changed once since she had entered. This was the first person the Helmsman had met on this island that had been old enough to actually remember the real Princess...it kinda scared Kuki at how much she was watching her.

"The worst is over." the other blonde girl encouraged, pulling the dress up over Kuki's newly created figure.

The dress was the same blackish blue colour the Prince was wearing the other night, the skirt poofed out a little then a gold band of fabric wrapped around her waist. The top was a sweetheart neckline, that was traced in a white lace, the same white lace that poked out at the bottom around her feet, which were placed in delicate looking high heels. The garment was sleeveless and at the dip of the neckline there was a light blue circular gem of sorts. The Royal maids held the same expression at looking at the 'Princess's' hands as they did with her back, deciding to put on a pair of white silk gloves on her that stopped right above her wrists. Kuki was thankful they didn't ask any questions about the many scars on her back or the purple stains on her finger tips.

"Finely..." the Helmsman sighed, as the three stopped touching her, signalling that they were done.

All three quirked their eyebrows at once.

"Oh we're not done yet Miss." the older woman said, picking up a hair brush from the vanity on the other side of the bed.

The other two grabbed all kinds of make up tools from behind the mirror itself.

"Oh no..."

* * *

><p>"I wonder where Kuki's at..." Nami muttered, munching on a bowl of fresh, diced fruits.<p>

All of the crew, except for the Helmsman, were awoken and informed that breakfast was served. They were all up and back down in the dining hall within minutes, life on the Sunny making them race for food that would otherwise be gone because of their captain. But it seemed that the Royal cooks had learned Luffy's eating habits from last night's dinner as a large amount of food was placed in front of his seat just waiting for him.

"I don't know, maybe with her fiance." Robin chuckled, taking a sip of her coffee.

Zoro glared down the Archeologist, "Don't say that shit."

The older woman just grinned evilly around her cup, playing off as she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Don't talk to one of my Angels like that you Marimo-Head!" Sanji yelled, only to after go back to his sobbing, "I can't believe Kuki-Hime has to pretend to be a fiance!"

"Shush!" Nami screeched, shifting her eyes to look at the guards carefully, "Don't say that so loud Baka!"

"At least I'll have you two, Nami-Swan! Robin-Chwan!"

"Your disturbing my breakfast shitty love-cook."

"Well you even being here disturbs mine, muscle for brains."

"Oh yeah? Well do something about it!"

"Maybe I will!"

"Sorry I'm late..." Kuki mumbled from the balcony above the table.

Zoro and Sanji currently had their foreheads touching, glaring at each other intensely. Luffy was stuffing his face, Chopper and Ussop laughing along with him. Nami and Robin off in their own world, with Brooke and Franky chatting away. It was nice to see a little familiarity after all the craziness from this morning. She felt rigid and stiff trying to walk in this thing, her head still hurt from all the brushing and pulling of her hair and she was paranoid of touching her face as if it would mess up the makeup she could feel on it. Everyone's head snapped over to look at her as she carefully walked down the staircase, holding up the front of the dress a little as the other hand clung to the railing. She felt as if tumbling head first down this thing was a bad idea.

"Hello, Kuki!" Luffy greeted cheerfully, smiling around his food.

He was the only one who spoke, as the Helmsman sat in eery silence.

"Well...I know you gotta pretend to be a Princess and all but...you went all out." Nami whispered to the petite girl.

Her long hair was curled and pinned tightly to her head, creating some sort of fancy up-do. The make up was intensive, with a pale blue eyeshadow, foundation, blush, mascara and a pink lipstick.

"Looking good Neko-chan!" Franky laughed, giving the girl a large thumbs up.

Kuki blushed, which no one could tell because it was hidden by the layer of already placed blush.

"I didn't do this myself guys!" the Helmsman exclaimed, "I got attacked by three maids this morning!"

Zoro wouldn't even look at the girl his hand covering his face, and his neighbour was currently a pile of useless mush mumbling about Princess's and Knights. Robin glanced at the Swordsman, chuckling knowingly at him and the look of confusion on the Helmsman's face, apparently someone had missed his red face upon her entry.


	52. Chapter 52

**Author's Note: Number 52...like months later...ugh. I'm sorry guys, I really am, but always remember I'm never giving up on this story, I will get another chapter out there sooner or later! I can't even say I've been trying my hardest because I know I haven't. Just with grad and my military entry stuff on the go it's been rather stressful. Thanks to all who have waited around and I'm sorry for making you do that, but I hope you enjoy this chapter, might be a tad rusty and maybe rushed but that because i just had a spare hour or two to do this. And a huge thank you to my reviewers, I know a lot of people do this but your reviews really do make me write faster just because it reminds me that people still do in fact read my story! Well with that, lets get on with the story! Thank you! Enjoy!**

**Previous Chapter Reviews:**

**Pokemonjkl: Thanks for the review! And I know haha I personally would hate that, people i don't know touching me, but hey some girls like that kind of stuff, getting dolled up by other people...pampered. But i have a feeling Kuki was with me on this one hahaha. Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**14musician: Of course you can, i just have one rule...you have to let me see them! Haha and thank you so much, my life's been hectic but hey everyone's probably is. Thank you for those kind words and the review. Hope you enjoy this chapter! **

**Girl-luvz-manga: Haha I'd say, more shocked if anything. I just love putting him in situations like this... so funny haha. I think I'm a tad evil to the characters I like...my bad. Thank you for the review, hope you like this chapter! **

* * *

><p>"Did you end up getting any sleep after?" Robin asked, stirring her coffee with a delicate looking piece of silverware.<p>

Kuki shuffled around in her seat, trying to find a way to sit in all of the fabric that would be comfortable, "Not Really..." she mumbled, sighing "That picture was sort of creeping me all night, and then all the maids just stormed in and attacked me with brushes and this thing." she finished, signalling down to the expensive cloth clinging to her.

Nami looked up from her fruit and nodded, "I'd say, if I were you it would creep me out too."

All who were listening in on the girls conversation tilted their heads in confusion.

"There's a portrait of the Queen and the Prince in Kuki's room." Robin explained, bringing the teacup up to her mouth.

"Ah, feeling a bit of guilt?" Franky asked, smirking at the currently dolled up Helmsman.

Kuki shook her head, that wasn't the reason, well at first it was but to be honest she hardly thought of that again up until now. Kuki looked down at the plate in front of her, eggs, hash browns, and some fruit. It was placed out beautifully, and looked delicious, but she didn't know if her current clothing would allow her to eat, it barely let her breath.

"The Queen has the exact same eye colour as Kuki does." Nami added, popping the last strawberry into her mouth.

"Hmm, that is strange." Chopper muttered under his breath as he nibbled on a piece of french toast smothered in icing sugar.

The blonde girl looked up from her plate to the ship doctor, "But not completely weird right? Like...people can have the same eye colour all the time."

"Well yes," the reindeer answered, "But your eye colour is kinda different in it's own, and don't you think its weird that the Queen has the same eye colour as you, who is supposed to be the 'Next Queen'?"

Kuki sighed loudly and dropped her face into her hands, "Not you too Chopper." she whined.

_Grumble _

"What was that?" Sanji muttered, finally getting into the conversation.

Kuki blushed and hid her face deeper within her hands, "Sorry...I'm just really hungry."

"Well then eat something, the foods really good here." Nami chuckled.

The Helmsman looked back at her food, oh it really did look good, her mouth was salivating just at the thought of eating, but she already felt as if she was going to burst out of the dress...

"I can't..." she almost cried, smelling the still hot hash browns.

"Is it because you only have hunger for my food Kuki-Hime? I can go to the kitchen and make you something delicious!" Sanji offered, grabbing her hand closest to him with heart in his eyes.

"It's not that Sanji, this dress is just really tight and it's hard to even breath in it let alone eat." she explained lightly pulling her hand away as she frowned at her food once again.

"Why not just take it off?" Zoro offered, finally being able to get his act together.

It really would be better for him if she was wearing her normal clothes rather then this dressy stuff.

Kuki looked over at him, "I wish I could, but all the strings for the corset are in the back..."

"Well I could help." he offered, anything to get her out of that dress.

_Smack_

"Of course you would you Baka-Marimo!" Sanji hollered, standing over Zoro as he was on the ground from the cook's sneak attack.

Kuki barely had anytime to blush at the misunderstanding of the Swordsman's words.

"I didn't mean it like that you Love-Cook!" Zoro yelled back, defending himself.

"Trying to take advantage of Kuki-Hime in her time of need! Despicable!"

"Time of need!? What are you going on about you Baka?!"

The boys carried on while the crew just snickered behind them, absolutely loving the First Mates blush of embarrassment.

* * *

><p>"Robin..." Kuki hushed, creeping behind the older woman as her eyes scanned the hallway.<p>

After breakfast, the one Kuki couldn't take part in, the Archeologist suggested that the two of them look around and try and get some answers for themselves. Kuki was all for the idea, until they started for the main tower. Robin seemed to beeline straight for this area, the castle itself had three towers connecting to the base. One to the left, where the crew were currently staying, one to the right, where Kuki and the Prince, as she guessed, where placed, and one in the middle at the back of the castle. It was the shortest out of the three, and it seemed that the closer they got to it the less guards were around, placing a ball of fear in Kuki's stomach, fear of getting caught for something they shouldn't be doing.

"If you don't act like your doing something wrong then people wont think your doing something wrong." Robin smiled, pointing out the Helmsman's current body language.

With that, the blonde straightened up and breathed, rushing to catch up to the tall, long legged lady. Her walking pace made Kuki have to do some awkward kind of jog/walk just in order to stay in line with her.

"I feel like...we're not supposed to be this way." Kuki whispered to her partner in crime, eye one of the few guards placed at the wall in the hallway they were walking down.

The Archeologist just smirked, "More the reason why we should come down this way."

The Helmsman sighed and sucked it up, she too wanted answers, maybe even more then Robin, she just wasn't used to sneaking around. The feeling in her stomach was sickening, like how a child feels sneaking a cookie from the cupboard thinking any moment their parents would walk in and catch them.

Doors, signalling the end of the hallway, were in front of them. They were different from the large heavy, extravagant ones all throughout the castle that were always open. These were closed and wooden, seemingly older then the rest. Robin just strolled up and gave them a small push, opening them just enough to sneak into as well as sending a large screech down the hallway they had come from. Kuki glanced behind her to see if anyone was coming and then hurriedly snuck into the room after the older woman, closing them behind her. The room was huge, a large circular area surround by tall bookcase and a spiral staircase that ran all the way up the tower to the top where a doorway hinted to another room at the top. In the middle of the room a large desk sat with a chair, some books already laid there open as if someone had been reading before. The archeologist took no time to walk over to the desk and skim threw the books that laid there, Kuki on the other hand walked up to the tall bookcases, placing a hand on the ladder contraption placed on them. It seemed to be able to slide across the bookcases on rails.

"I think our new inventor friend was here." Robin muttered, drawing the blonde's attention to her.

"What do you mean?" the Helmsman asked, walking over to the desk.

Robin handed one of the books to Kuki to look at.

"Electronics?" the girl asked out loud, reading the cover.

"It seems our shipwright caught her attention," the Archeologist added, "shes studying mechanical body parts and electronics."

Kuki's eyes skimmed over the books on the desk, and then to the stairs lining the wall. At a closer look, the girl could see a number of paintings following the stairs all the way to the top. Robin seemed to notice the Helmsman's interest and left the books to the stair case, closely followed by the tiny pretend Princess.

"There all...girls" Kuki exclaimed, taking in the photos one by one.

The first was obviously old, the colour was dull, and the paint was chipping at parts but one thing stood out.

"Her eyes." Robin stated.

The pit in Kuki's stomach grew.

"Their the same colour as yours."

No matter how dull the paint had gotten, the eyes were still the bright, sky blue...the same as Kuki's.

Robin seemed to notice the Helmsman's silence and just kept on up the stairs, with every picture they both noticed the same thing. The eyes, were all the same, in every picture. Kuki's nervousness turned to straight out panic, what was going on here?

"That's..." the blonde muttered, coming up to the last picture before the doorway.

The woman was beautiful, with long black hair and a kind smile on her face.

"The Queen." Robin finished for her.

"But does that mean..?" Kuki didn't even want to finish her thought process.

"That all the pictures here are of past Queens?" the older woman asked, looking back down at all the paintings, "I think so."

Kuki didn't say anything, just walked up the last few steps and grasped the door handle to the room at the top of the tower. Just what was going on here? She could play the current Queen off as just coincidence, but all of the past Queens? She breathed in and gave the door a push, opening to reveal circular room with a dome like ceiling. A small circle hole was cut out of the ceiling right in the middle. Letting late morning sunshine pour down into the middle of the room where a sickly looking black plant of sorts stood, if you could call it a plant. It looked like a small tree that was badly burnt, not holding any leaves or anything of the sort. The rest of the room was decorated in what seemed like gold, the entire ceiling stretching down to the walls were panels of the stuff engraved with pictures Kuki couldn't even begin to understand.

"Wow..." Kuki muttered, slowly walking into the room as her head faced up as she looked at the engravings.

"Amazing..." Robin mumbled, taking in it all with a large grin on her face.

Kuki had never seen such a sincere smile on the archeologist's face before, unless she was talking about history stuff and those poneglyphs.

"This writing...is ancient." the older woman explained, running her hand over the panels that she could reach.

Instantly, Robin pulled out her small book and began working on the hidden words. Kuki on the other hand walked towards the tree. It was just barely taller then her, and small, golden bricks out lined the dark soil it was planted in. Something about the plant was off, what was it? Why did it look dead? Was it dead? Why was a black, leave-less tree so special as to be the main focus of this room? Kuki carefully reached her hand out, wanting to touch one of it's many branches.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you." a voice called out from the doorway, making Kuki jump.

The Helmsman's head whipped over to the intruder, seeing Lily standing in the doorway.

"I don't know how breakable that thing is." the Island's inventor continued, walking over to the girl.

Robin didn't even take the notice, only glanced over and then went back to her deciphering.

"I...ugh..." Kuki mumbled, not knowing what to do as she was caught red handed.

"One of the guards informed me that you two were coming here, so i decided to join." Lily explained, looking around the room, "I haven't been up here in a while anyway."

"Oh...well.." the girl stuttered, not believing that she wasn't going to get in trouble, "What is this anyway?" she asked, spitting out the first sentence that came to her mind.

Before Lily could answer, Robin closed her book and turned towards the two.

"It's a devil fruit tree." the Archeologist explained, walking over to get a good look at the anomaly.

"What? Really...I've never seen one before..." Kuki gasped, taking a better look at the plant.

This was the thing that produced the powerful fruit, this dead looking thing.

"Their incredibly rare..." Robin added, "But more importantly, it's your Devil Fruit's tree."


	53. Chapter 53

**Author's Note: Number 53...it's been so long...but remember! I told you I'd never give up on this fiction! It might be a long long time in between...but I'll do it sooner or later! We're getting close to the heart of this arc! I hope you guys really enjoy it. As always, reviews are always loved and, even tho it might not seem like it, they do encourage me to continue writing. Anyway! Enjoy!**

**Past Chapter Reviews:**

**Previous Chapter Reviews:**

**Pokemonjkl: Haha yes! Yes she does !**

**Girl-luvs-manga:Haha i kinda just took a guess, my bad if I'm wrong! Enjoy**

**DBZGirl182: Thanks so much! So sorry for the long wait! Ugh I feel so bad!**

* * *

><p>"Mine...?" Kuki gasped, glancing back at the black twiggy plant, "How can you be sure?"<p>

Robin bent down and examined the centre piece of the room a little bit more before she answered the tiny girl.

"It says so on the walls."

Lily scratched at her chin with her metal covered arm, "You can read those old things? They've been around since this islands been inhabited. This whole tower was built first for the sake of this tree. The castle was actually built a while after around it." she explained.

"Wait so...it says what about me on the walls? How can that be possible!? They're way older then me!" The Helmsman exclaimed, trying to catch her breath.

Everything was just too weird...too coincidental... From the islanders reaction to her, too the eyes of the Queen and past Queens, all the way to this gold crusted room and this weird dead plant of sorts.

"Not quite..." Robin started, moving towards a part of the wall, signalling that Kuki should follow, " Here it shows the black tree bearing a fruit with swirls on it, a pear more correctly, which is the universal symbol for Devil Fruit."

The archeologist's gentle fingers ran of the well taken care of engravings.

"Then a wedding is shown, taking in the crowns and the exchange of rings shown at least, I'd say the King and Queen's wedding. Over here it shows the Queen eating the fruit and wind encircling her, which makes me come to the conclusion that this is your Devil Fruit tree."

Kuki stared dumbfounded at the wall, slowly letting it all in. How was this possible?

"The engravings have aquamarine gems as the Queen's eyes... leading me to think that your eye colour comes from he fruit..." Robin continued slowly.

Did she...did she really come from this island?

"You were right up until that point!" Lily laughed out.

Was she really the Princess?

She walked over to the two girls and patted the older woman on the back.

"Everyone on Tochihana is born with the same skin tone and eye colour, its weird but whats weirder is the Queen is decided by a baby girl who is born with your strange bright blue colour!" the inventor explained pointing at Kuki's eyes.

Was she really supposed to marry that guy?

Robin chuckled, " That does make more sense now, since her eyes were pictured that colour before she ate the fruit."

Stay here and rule?

"Yes, it's a tradition on this island. Always has been, always will be now that your back."

"Why the Queen and not the King?"

"Well the King isn't supposed to have any weakness so..."

"Ah I see."

Leave everyone...Luffy, Nami, Robin, Chopper, Ussop, Franky, Brooke, Sanji...Zoro?

The two ladies finally took this time to both look at Kuki, awaiting her reaction.

The small blonde glanced at the two with a dumbfounded face and slowly, ever slowly, fell back unto the floor...utterly unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Wait, so your saying she actually is the Princess and this is actually where she's from?" Zoro grumbled out, pacing back and forth on the stone cobble floor.<p>

One of his hands were currently gripping at his hair in frustration while the other was strapped to the hilt of one of his swords. The entire crew, minus a certain small Helmsman, where currently meeting in Robin's room. Kuki was residing in her bed for now, as the Archeologist had informed them, under the care of one of the castles many doctors. Chopper had demanded to see to her but the Prince had pleasantly declined the offer saying his doctors were very well trained and could see to the Princess fine. Robin had taken it upon herself to fill the others in meanwhile.

"Apparently yes. She is actually what everyone here thinks she is."

Zoro swore, hitting the wall, trying to relive some of his built up anger.

"What's wrong with you marimo? Kuki-Hime is the real Princess I thought her too be!" Sanji sang, squirming around in his fantasies.

"Do you know what this means?!" Zoro asked glaring at everyone else.

How could they be so calm?

"Zoro's right." Robin muttered, making everyone tilt their head.

"What are we missing here?" Nami asked, voicing the thoughts of the group.

"That Jerk is her actual Fiance." Zoro said angerly.

With those words Sanji got zapped out his daze, reality hitting him.

"Kuki-Hime can't marry him!"

Robin sighed, of course that's all the swordsman would think of, the problem went further then that.

"Shishishi,then we'll have a new nakama! Hopefully the Prince can fish or something!" Luffy laughed, getting caught up in all the hype.

Zoro and Sanji both hit him at that comment, making the Captain laugh even more sticking his tongue out at the two. As they started to get into a playful scrap.

"That's just it..." the older woman began, catching everyone's attention once again, "Kuki just found her home, who's to say she doesn't come with us?"

"Who's to say she won't just stay here?"

* * *

><p>The girl had just been walking down the hall to shake off the current feeling that encased her, the castle doctor had just given her the okay, stating that it was a case of major shock that cause her to faint and hit her head. She received no serious damage just a headache and small bump at the back of her head. Suddenly a loud, angry voice echoed threw the halls behind her, scaring the girl in her still jumpy state.<p>

"Kuki!"

The girl spun around to see an enraged Luffy racing after her, red in the face and steaming.

"W-what!?" she sputtered, spinning around, trying to run away from him.

"Kuki get back here!" her captain ordered, still chasing her.

"NO!" she screamed back, not wanted to get caught, knowing all to well what would happen to her if she did, witnessing what happened to Zoro when Luffy acted like this to him, "What did I d- eep!"

Too late, Luffy caught hold of her waist and they went for a tumble.

The dust had settled by the time the rest of the crew caught up their Captain. Only to see Kuki on her stomach spread on the floor clutching her head as Luffy sat cross-legged on top of her, hand angerly placed on his hips as he looked down at her.

"Ouch..." the Helmsman whined, the bump on her head was going to get bigger, she could feel it, "What did I do?"

"Luffy get off of her." Ussop began to say only to be glared at by his Captain.

The crew fell silent, this was one of the few times he was actually serious, so they let him do what he had to do.

"You're part of my crew Kuki!" he began, not letting her up from her struggling.

Kuki stopped her squirming and looked up to his face.

"I don't care if you are a Princess or not, you made a promise by joining this crew and you are not allowed to stay here. You're one of my Nakama!" Luffy's bottom lip stuck out by the end of his sentence, looking like a mad, spoiled child.

Kuki couldn't help herself, she busted out into laughter.

"Of course! You're all my family! I'm not staying here!"

Sanji shook his head and lightly kicked the boy off of her as he helped her up. The rest of the crew giggled at their Captain's actions.

"Hey! Robin was the one who suggested it!" Luffy whined, glaring at his crew mates in protest.

Kuki raised an eyebrow and looked at everyone, "You all thought I would stay here?"

"Well you just found your home..." Nami continued, not knowing what to say.

"My home is on the Sunny with all of you." she laughed, " Don't get me wrong I'd like to stay a while to get to know this place and to see if my Dad lives still, but I'm not letting you guys go out on adventures without me!"

"What about the Prince?" Zoro mumbled, looking at her expectantly.

He wanted to leave this island quickly, to make sure that guy didn't try anything.

"I'm not marrying him!" Kuki squeaked, cheeks reddening at the thought, " Not even in the equation!"

Franky and Brooke laughed at the poor girl's embarrassment.

"Well now that that's settled, let me see your head Kuki!" Chopper giggled.

* * *

><p>"Ughhhh..."<p>

Kuki sighed as she fell onto the bed. She could really enjoy the bed now that she knew it was actually hers. She had just gotten back from dinner and was heading to bed. She wanted an early day tomorrow, she wanted to know everything about this place, but more importantly she wanted to find her father. She had to of had family here, right? Grandparents, aunts, uncles, maybe even cousins or siblings! It was all so crazy. Her eyes were idly staring straight to the ceiling. This is where she was from...this was her home...she was supposed to be a Princess! It was so strange, too weird to fully accept. Right now anyways. She wasn't going to be royalty, no way was she going to marry that guy. No matter what island tradition said she had too, they couldn't force her into anything, and the Queen could find someone else for her son. Nothing was wrong with him as far as she knew...she just couldn't stay here and leave everyone...as well as...

"Princess?" a voice came from the other side of her door.

Kuki's body shot up...it was him...it was the Prince.

"Yes?" her voice came out shaky and scared.

"May I come in?"

Her eyes widened as she tried to swallow the ball in her throat.

"Of...of course!"

He opened the door with a charming smile.

"May I sit with you?"

Kuki couldn't find her voice so she just nodded. The man walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to her, making her cheeks redden by the mere placement.

"I came to talk about the wedding plans, tomorrow night we're to meet with the planner to get it started. I know it's a little rushed but we were supposed to be wed a while ago." the Prince explained.

Kuki coughed, edging away from him.

"I... ugh, I can't marry you...I'm sorry but I can't stay here. This was all an accident of us coming to this island. I belong on the ship with my Captain and crew mates."

His face fell to utter disbelief, "But you belong here, with me, this is your home."

She cowered a little at his tone, " No, I might have been born here but that ship in the harbour is my home."

The silence was thick and unnerving, to Kuki at least. She wasn't good at these kind of situations, as Nami had put it a while ago Kuki was a push over. She wasn't great at human communication.

The Prince stood abruptly, making Kuki suck in a breath in surprise, "It was my mothers last dieing wish that I follow tradition."

The Helmsman's eyes widened, the Queen was dead? But...well it did make sense...

"You should get some sleep, you're speaking this craziness from your head injury."

His voice was strained and painful.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know..." Kuki tried to apologies, looking down at her fingers, "but that doesn't change my answer, I can't stay here. I made promises."

She tried so very hard to keep her voice smooth and steady, she needed to be strong in her opinion here for him to understand that her will did not waver.

The man in the dark blue dress clothes walked over to the door in silence. Pausing as if in thought at the handle before opening it and looking down at his feet, "We'll see."


	54. Chapter 54

**Author's Note: Number 54! Ah this one came fast all in one sitting too! All thanks to a review I received that proved people really do still like this fiction! This chapter is very Kuki/her family related! Just a warning haha it contains no other strawhats! Enjoy thought I personaly think its a good chapter! Cause I know I enjoyed writing it!**

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><p><strong>Past Chapter Reviews:<strong>

**14musician: Thank you so much! You were the driving force behind this chapter! I didn't think anyone was still reading this because I had received no reviews! And I hope you remember! I can't wait to see them! Really! Hope you enjoy! oh and PS! 37 is my favourite too! their first kiss! Ah so cute...of course being me i had to make em do it in that situation ^^**

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><p>"Here we are." Lily exclaimed, her metal cased arm pointing towards the house in front of her.<p>

After breakfast Kuki had asked Lily about her family situation. Refusing the multiple offers from her friends to come along as well, she felt as if this was something she needed to do her self. Apparently before Kuki and her mother left Tochihana came across bad times. The island was set into grief like a lot of other islands were in the many years after the pirate King had died, so the only direct family Kuki had left was her father, who's house she was in front of now.

"I..." she didn't know what to say.

Lily seemed to catch the tension and turned to leave, "You know your way back right?"

The Helmsman smiled and nodded, silently thankful that the inventor had decided to take her leave. But what now? Did she just go and knock? Say "Hey Dad it's me your long lost daughter!"? He must have known she was back by now with all the commotion that had gone down, the whole island was informed of the 'Princess's' return. Why hadn't he came by the palace to see her? Didn't he want to? With all the questions rolling around Kuki's head she froze in front of the worn looking door, arm raised, fist an inch from the apparently offending object. She was scared, not in a sense of physical harm, but as to what would happen. What if he didn't like her? What if that was the reason why he didn't come to see her at the castle? What if he shooed her away? Could she handle being tossed to the side again? Her scared emotions were damaged enough. The door opened, to her surprise, shocking her into a panicked frozen state. There in the doorway was a man, around the same height as Franky. He had black, shaggy hair, and a greying, black scruff around his face. His eye's were the same grey everyone else here had. His face read one of shock, as if seeing a ghost, only to realize that it was indeed a real person. They both stood there for a moment, looking at each other, not knowing what to say.

"Mari...so I guess what I heard was true..." he muttered, not taking his eyes off of her. " Come in..."

Kuki gulped and nodded, following the man into the house. This wasn't how she pictured it to be, no tears of rejoice, no hugs, no...nothing.

"Sorry for my shock...you look so much like Mari it took me by surprise." he explained, ushering her to sit at the small table.

His house was very plain, nothing standing out, clean and simple.

"Is...was that my mom's name?" Kuki asked, finally getting back her power to speak as she sat on the wooden chair.

The man ran a hand threw his hair and walked into, what Kuki could only guess was, the kitchen. Returning shortly with two mugs he placed one in front of her and sat across the table, sipping from his own. The Helmsman thanked him and went to take a sip out of it, grog.

"Was?" he asked slowly, as if he wasn't sure if he wanted the answer or not.

The girl only nodded, neither of them touching on the subject any more then they needed too.

"My name's Bill. I guess you think I'm your father?" he said, taking a large gulp from his mug before placing it to the side.

Kuki's eyebrow raised, what did he mean? Lily said this was her Dad's house? Was she wrong? Was it the one over?

"Well I can understand why," he laughed, shaking his head, "You're mother told everyone I was."

"What do you mean?" she asked, not understanding as to what this man was getting at.

Why did everything have to get so much more complicated?

"If you're not my Dad...then..."

Bill sighed, scratching his head, "It's hard to explain, Tochihana has always been a closed off island. We used to let outsiders dock and stay here to re-fuel before they left, but even back then any more communication between us and 'them' was completely frowned upon."

Kuki nodded her head, giving him the okay to continue.

"Mari, your mother, was the old Queen's hand maiden. Well more like her only friend I guess. See the Queen was really up-tight even growing up. Mari actually used to pick on her some lot when they were growing up. Got her in a lot of trouble back then." Bill laughed, his eyes drifting off into memories of a past life, corners of a smile crossing his lips, "I remember when she first heard of the Queen's request for her to be the first handmaiden. Mari thought it was a lie, a joke, and came running to me yelling about theories of people out to get her, but I knew she secretly enjoyed the Queen's company. They both liked each other, Mari had the freedom the Queen wanted and the Queen had family like Mari had wanted. Soon they actually came to be great friends, almost like sister's. I barely saw your mother then, she was permanently at the castle."

Kuki smiled a little bit, bathing in the information of her mother, any little detail was worth more then gold to her.

"Mari was different, she wasn't satisfied with this," he waved his arms, "Sure she seemed happy but she wasn't, she wanted, no needed, to leave this island. She wanted to become a pirate of all things. Which was unheard of in these parts. She started hanging out with this one crew that stayed here for a couple weeks. Well I shouldn't say crew, the captain. They were connected at the hip, people started talking. She spent more time with him then she did at her job. When she figured out she was pregnant with you she had to make a decision. She had full intentions on going with this pirate crew, joining them, but now that you were in the equation that was out of the question."

Ben gulped down the last of his drink, sighing as his smile left him.

"Mari didn't know what would happen if people found out you're father was an outsider, a pirate none the less, so she came to me." he chuckled at the memory, " I guess she always knew I had feelings for her, everyone did, she was beautiful and different, more alive. She explained everything and asked me to pretend to be the father. At first I was completely against it, she didn't want to be with me she had to, but we had been friends forever and well...she needed my help."

Kuki's brain was processing all of the new found information, but one thing stuck out in her head.

"I made her stay here...I made her leave my father..."

"Yes, but she loved you." he explained, scoffing, "Even before she saw you. She'd always get on with my language around the baby, or how I wasn't allowed to smoke around her or she'd throttle me into an early grave."

His smile seemed to infect Kuki into having one herself, her mom sounded so different from herself.

"Every night she'd read you a story and tell you how you were the best thing that ever happened to her, so don't worry yourself kid, you gave her life new meaning if anything." Ben explained, lighting a smoke as he looked at her.

"Thanks." the Helmsman replied, taking another sip of her grog.

"Is the anything else you need? Sorry to rush but I was heading to work before you stopped by and I'm already late." Ben asked, standing from the table.

"Oh! Do you happen to know which pirate crew it was?" Kuki asked, hoping to still be able to find her father.

Ben walked over to a cabinet against the wall, opening a small drawer and pulling out a box. The man walked over to the girl and handed it to her.

"No but this was your mothers, you can keep it. I need to get over her now that I know she's not coming back and having her things still here is not going to help any."

His voice was pained, but he tried to hide it well. Inside the box was a bracelet, almost like Nami's log pose but other then wood there was shiny silver and instead of a campus of sorts at the top there was a hollow glass globe that contained a blue petaled flower floating in a pale blue liquid. The white bulb in the middle of the flower was pointing straight up at the sky.

"It's like a log pose for our island. The bulb of that flower always points to Tochihana and the liquid it's suspended in keeps it alive. Ever since what the Queen did with the weather normal log poses can't find this island." Ben explained, watching the girl go over her mother's old bracelet.

There was a small latch at the bottom of the globe, Kuki ran her finger over the silver button and it popped open like a locket. Inside there was an obviously old picture of her mother, smiling at the camera holding a sleeping baby close to her face. As well as the photograph, there was a small, rectangular, plain piece of paper. She picked it up and placed it in the palm of her hand.

"A Vivre card." Ben explained, "To who? I don't know for sure, but I can only guess it's from your father, your real father."

Kuki nodded and put it back where it belonged, safely placing the globe back to it's proper up right position, clicking the locket closed.

"Thank you," The girl started to say, sniffling as tears started dripping down her face, "Really, thank you so much, you've been an amazing help. I never really knew anything about my Mom."

With out thinking, she hugged the man, crying into his chest. She needed this. Whatever 'this' was? She didn't know, this man might have not been her father but it was the closest thing to feeling like family then she has ever had. He was real, he was alive and he was here with her. This man knew her mother and had stayed to share with her what he could instead of going to work. Ben stood shocked, looking down at the small Mari hugging him. She looked so much like her it was crazy, the girl didn't take anything from her father at all, in looks anyway, and even looking at her killed him slowly. Ben had really loved and cared for Mari, and she was gone. His hand went and patted her on the back, both of them taking a moment to comfort each other unknowingly. Ben sighed as a way to bite back at the stinging in his eyes. Mari was gone, and she wasn't coming back.

"It's okay kid."


End file.
